WHAT IS CULTURE?

 Culture is defined as the set of learned behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, values, and ideals that are
characteristics of a particular society or population (Ember, 1999).
 Culture should be regarded as “the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual, and
emotional features of society or a social group, and that it encompasses, in addition to art and
literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs.” (UNESCO,
2002)

CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURES
 Culture is learned
 Culture is shared by a group of people
 Culture is cumulative
 Cultures change
 Culture is dynamic
 Culture is ideational
 Culture is diverse
 Culture gives us a range of permissible behavior patterns

COMPONENTS OF CULTURE
COMMUNICATION COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL MATERIAL
 Language  Ideas  Norms  Tools,
 Symbols  Knowledge  Mores Medicines
 Beliefs  Laws  Books
 Values  Folkways  Transportation
 Accounts  Rituals  Technologies

COMMUNICATION COMPONENTS
 Language
- The core of all culture
 Symbols
- The backbone of symbolic interaction. May vary within cultures, cross-culturally, and
change overtime.

COGNITIVE COMPONENT
1. Ideas/Knowledge/Beliefs
- Ideas are mental representations used to organize stimulus. Knowledge is the
storehouse where we accumulate representations, information, facts, assumptions, etc.
Beliefs accept a proposition, statement, description of fact as true.
2. Values
- They support beliefs, or specific statements that people hold to be true.

BEHAVIORAL COMPONENT
1. Norms
- Are rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members.
 Mores: customary behavior patterns or folkways which have been taken on a
moralistic value.
 Laws: the most formal and important norms.
 Folkways: behavior patterns of society which are organize and repetitive.
 Rituals: highly scripted ceremonies or strips of interaction that follow a specific
sequence of actions.
MATERIAL COMPONENTS
 Refer to physical object of culture such as machine, equipment, tools, books, clothing, etc.

THE ORGANIZATION OF CULTURE TRAITS

Is either a material or non-material culture, represents a single element or a combination of
elements related to a specific situation.

Example. Kissing the hands of the elders after Sunday mass and at Angelus.

HOW IS CULTURE TRANSMITTED

1. Enculturation
2. Acculturation
3. Assimilation

Enculturation
 It is the process of learning culture of one’s own group
Ex. learning the language, folkways and social traditions.

Acculturation
 It is the process of learning some new traits from another culture
Ex. Migrating from a rural area to urban area and learning the custom of the new place

Assimilation
 It is the process in which an individual entirely loses its awareness of his/her previous group
identity and takes on the culture and attitudes of another group.
Ex. An American speaks only Waray-waray and assumes the folkways, etc. of the local
group.

IMPORTANCE AND FUNCTIONS OF CULTURE

1. Culture helps the individual fulfill his potential as a human being.
2. Through the development of culture man can overcome his physical disadvantages and allows
us to provide ourselves with fire, clothing, food and shelter.
3. Culture provides rules of proper conduct for living in a society.
4. Culture also provides the individual concepts of family, nation, and class.

“Culture is necessary for a healthy society.”

Cultural Distinction
- It passes to the next generation
Social Groups
- Part of cultural country, impact in values.
3 Categories
 Rich
 Poor
 Middle Class
Language/Dialect
- Different dialects but still one culture
- Language – Tagalog
- Dialects – Visaya
Religion
- How’s the religion affect your country
- Can affect your belief (work)

Daily Life
- How we get to prepare with our food
- Manners in our food or how we eat

History
- It remembers the world
- Holidays, death or birthday of heroes celebrated in the Philippines, other country they
don’t exercise that kind of practice
Arts
- Architecture, Dance and Music
- Philippine known as best sculpture in the world
Government
- Democratic country (Philippines)
- Free will of every one to say something or to do something
- Dictatorial ship (Other Country)
 Dictating people
- Monarchy (Other Country)
 King and Queens
Economy
- State of the country financially or legally
- We import because our country wants to buy things in other country