Characteristics of Culture

 It is learned and acquired

 It is deliberated and enacted
 It is shared and transmitted
 Patterns of Behaviour
 Man’s adaptation to the
environment
 Man’s daily activities in the
workplace
 Man’s application of his
knowledge and skills
 Aspects of Culture
 Dynamic, flexible and adaptive
 Shared and contested
 Learned through socialization or
enculturation
 Patterned social interactions
 Integrated and at times unstable
 Transmitted through
socialization
 Requires language and other
forms of communication
Social Norms
- These are established
expectations of society as to
how a person is supposed to act
depending on the requirements
of the time, place, or situation.
 Forms of Social Norms

Folkways
-The patterns of repetitive
behavior which becomes habitual
and conventional part of living
Mores
-The set of ethical standards and
moral obligations as dictates of
reason that distinguishes human
acts as right or wrong or good
from bad.
Values
-Anything held to be relatively
worthy, important, desirable, or
valuable.
Technology
-The pracical application of
knowledge in converting raw
materials into finished products.
Elements of Culture

 Knowledge – it refers to any

information received and
perceived to be true
 Beliefs
-The perception of accepted
reality.

Reality – refers to the existence

of things whether material or
nonmaterial
Cultural Variation
-Refers to the differences in social
behaviors that different culture
exhibit around the world.
Ethnocentrism
- It is a perception that arises from the
fact that cultures, differ and each
culture defines reality differently.
- Judging another culture solely by the
values and standards of one’s own
culture
Cultural Relativism
- The attempt to judge behavior
according to its cultural context.
- The principle that an individual
person’s beliefs and activities should
be understood by others in terms of
that individual’s own culture.