Social, Political, and Cultural Behavior and

Phenomena
 Social, Political, and Cultural Behaviors and Phenomena in the society are results
of interactions within society.
 People talk and share stories. People share ways of living among other things.
 People do things together and work for the attainment of the common good and
social order.

CULTURE
- A culture is a way of life of a group of people – the behaviors, beliefs,
values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them
and that are passed along by communication and imitation from one
generation to the next.
SOCIETY
- The people who interact in such a way as to share a common culture.
- The term society can also have geographic meaning refer to people who
share a common culture in particular location.

Culture and Society are intricately related. A culture consists of the "objects" of a
society, whereas a society consists of the "people" who share a common culture.
When the term culture and society first acquired their current meanings, most
people in the world worked and lived in small group in the same locale.

Elements of CULTURE
-Material
-Non-Material

Material Culture - Culture is easily divided into material or non-material

concepts.
Material culture includes:
•Weapons •Machines •Jewelry •Art •Hair styles •Clothing
Non-Material Culture - Refers to abstract human creations. Included in this
category are:
•Language •Philosophies •Customs •Governments •Institutions •Gestures
•Values •Beliefs •Rules (Norms)

Types of Non-Material CULTURE

1. Belief
- Perception of reality
- Are the convictions that people hold to be true.
- Individuals in the society have specific beliefs, but they also shared
collective values.

2. Values
- Shared ideas, right or wrong.
- Are a culture’s standard for discerning what is good and just in society.
- Values are deeply embedded and critical for transmitting and teaching a
culture’s beliefs.

3. Norms
- Are rules that govern our lives and values are the goal of our lives. It is the
expectations, or rules of behavior that develop out of values. They are
guidelines for our behavior.
- Norms may be informal or they may formalized into laws.
- Are often in the form of rules, standards, or prescription that are strictly
followed by people who adhere on certain conventions and perform specific
roles. Often norms indicate society's standards of property, morality, ethics
and legality.
- Example: Pagmamano
 TYPES OF NORMS
1. Norms of Conventionality
2. Norms of Conformity

Deviants – Formal and Informal

Informal – wala layi
Formal – may layi
Folklores - Are norms that ordinary people follow in everyday life.
- Conformity is expected, but not absolutely insisted on.
- Folkways are not strictly enforced.
- Are norms that are little strength and may, within broad limits, be easily
broken. Some examples are manners of eating and dressing, food
preferences, use of PO and OPO, among others.
Examples:
1.. Correct manners
2. Appreciate dress
3. Proper eating behavior
4. Pagmamano
5. Harana
6. Pamamanhikan

Mores – are norms taken more seriously and are strictly enforced.
- Considered as “Essential to our core values”. We insist on conformity.
- Are norms that are strongly held, considered essential, and therefore must be
strictly enforced. Some mores are enacted by the state and are referred to as
laws/ for example, rules against cheating in exams and having extramarital
affairs are mores.
Example: Flag Burning Murder
Talking to oneself in public is not considered a normal behavior.
Nudity in public is not acceptable in most areas.
Picking one’s nose in public is not an acceptable behavior.
Risking for the national anthem is an expected behavior.
When dressing for a job interview in an office, men should wear a suit and tie.
Taboos - Are norms that are deeply held that even thought of violating them upsets
people. For example, incest taboo is universal.
- It is the prohibition of an action based on the belief that such behavior is
either too scared and consecrated or too dangerous and accursed for ordinary
individuals to undertake.
- Approximate super mores. Taboos are so "strongly ingrained that even the
thoughts of its violation are greeted with disapproval, disgust or hate".
Examples of Taboos
Abortion – terminating a pregnancy.
Addiction – addiction to legal or illegal drugs, including alcoholism.
Adultery – sexual intercourse with someone other than your spouse.
Bestiality or Zoophobia – sexual relations between a human and an animal.
Cannibalism – a human being eating the flesh of another human being.

Law - Legal cultures are described as being temporary outcomes of interactions

and occur pursuant to a challenge and response paradigm. Analysis of core legal
paradigms shape the characteristics of individual and distinctive legal cultures.

Ideal vs. Real Culture

Ideal - refers to the norms and values that a society professes to hold. Ideal culture
describes models to emulate and which as worth aspiring to.
Real Culture - refers to norms and values that are followed in practice.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
o Culture is learned.
- is learned through families, friends, institutions and media.
- Culture is learned, most of the behavior is learned in society.
- This learning might be conscious or unconscious but nobody can
deny the process of learning. Culture is something learned and
acquired.
 Enculturation – process of learning about a future.
Example: Wearing of clothes and dancing.
It is not something natural to the person.
o Culture is shared.
Groups of people usually share similar behavior patterns which
develop overtime.
But shared cultured does not mean that it is homogeneous.
People living together in a society share culture.
Example: For example, almost all people living in the Philippines
share the Filipino language, dress in similar styles, eat many of the
same foods, and celebrate many of the same holidays.

o Culture is Adaptive and Dynamic.

Adopts to various environmental and geographical conditions.
Culture are dynamic systems that responds to motions and actions
within around them.
A culture must be flexible enough to allow such adjustments in the
face of unstable or changing circumstances.
From hunter – gatherer to globalized world.

o Culture is Symbolic.
Society developed a way to manifest concepts and ideas, and a symbolic
stand for different meaning for different societies.
Example: White for western counties is a symbol of purity and peace.
White for Eastern and Asian culture is death, mourning and misfortune.

DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE OF CULTURE

ETHNOCENTRISM
 Comes from the Greeks and it refers to a people, nation, or cultural
grouping.
 Centric is a Latin word means “Center”.
 It is to judge other cultures as inferior.
  It has the tendency to use one's own culture as a standard against which to
judge other people's cultures. Although it brings together people and builds
solidarity within a particular society, it can justify prejudice and
discrimination.
CULTURAL RELATIVISM
 The belief that peoples and their ways of doing things can be understood
only in terms of the cultural context of those people. It is not saying that all
cultures are good, or that any way of doing is acceptable.
 It means being objective enough to understand people's behaviours in terms
of their cultures in social situation.
 Idea that all norms, belief, and values are dependent on their cultural context
and should be treated as such.
 Promotes greater appreciation of the cultures one encountered along the way.
 Social Scientist strives to treat cultural differences as neither inferior or
superior.
 Cultural Diversity/No universal standard for judging it.
XENOCENTRISM
 Exocentric/Xeno people are more appreciative of other societies
culture. Hence, social solidarity among the people is difficult to
establish.
 Example: “Filipino seems happy to buy imported goods rather than
local products because of the assumption that anything abroad is
better”

SOCIAL, CULTURAL, AND POLITICAL CHANGE

Essence of Anthropology, Political Science, and Sociology

 • Anthropology - Came from the Greek word “Anthropos” which means
“MAN”, and “Logos” means “STUDY”.
- The science that deals with the origins, physical and cultural development,
biological characteristics, and social customs and beliefs of humankind.
Anthropology has 4 main divisions:
1. Physical/Biological Anthropology
- this deals with evolution of man and human variations and it concerns with
employment of science to determine the genes, or dna of human ancestors.
2. Archeology
- It is concerned with cultural change over time. As archeologists continue to
fascinate us with the discoveries of new artifact which entails material
culture of the past.
3. Cultural Anthropology
- This covers the culture of humanity shared or learned and how it became so
dynamic, adaptive, integrated, and ideational.
- Through this, we come to understand human behavior and differences.
4. Linguistic Anthropology
- Concerns human language or the way we communicate whether verbal or
non-verbal.

Goals of Anthropology
• To understand the origin of man and the diverse forms of his existence
throughout time.
• Observe the common things among people.
• Discover what make people different from each other.

 Sociology
- French word “sociologie” meaning companion.
- Sociology is the study of human relationships and institutions.
- This subject is diverse ranging from crime to religion, from the family to the
state, from the divisions of race and social class to the shared beliefs of a
common culture.
Goals of Sociology
1. Study the nature of humanity.
2. Appreciate society.
3. To understand how human actions and consciousness both shape and are
shaped by the surrounding cultural and social structures.

 Political Science
- It is a social science that deals with humans and their interactions.
- It is a discipline that deals with several aspects such as the study of state and
government.

Goals of Political Science

1. Make people better citizens.
2. Keep social order and harmony among different groups of people.
3. Protect the rights of an individual.
4. Avoid conflict and promote cooperation.
5. Constantly deepen our knowledge about human relationships and
governance.
6. Discover progress and protect the quality of life within a group community,
country, and the world.

Society and Culture/Aspect of Culture

1. Language
- Language is a key aspect of culture and plays a fundamental role in
communication.
- It includes spoken, written and signed formed and varies greatly across
different culture.
2. Beliefs and Values
- Beliefs and values refer to the ideas, principles, and moral standards that
guide behavior and social interactions within a culture.
- These can include religious, philosophical, and ethical beliefs.
3. Customs and Traditions
- Customs and tradition are the practice and rituals that are passed down
through generation.
- These can vary widely, including celebrations, ceremonies, dress code,
greeting, and social norms.
4. Art and Literature
- Art and literature are creative expression of a culture’s beliefs, values, and
experiences.
- They can take various forms such as painting, sculpture, and music, dance,
theater, literature and film.
5. Food and Cuisine
- Food and cuisine are an integral part of culture, often reflecting a society’s
history, geography, and tradition.
- Different regions or ethic groups might have distinct, ingredients, and
culinary techniques.
6. Social Organization
- Social Organization refers to the way a society structures its relationships,
roles, and hierarchies.
- This includes family, structures, kinship systems, social classes, gender
roles, and societal institutions like marriage, education and government.
7. Cultural Symbols
- Cultural symbols represent abstract ideas or concepts that hold significance
within a culture.
- These symbols can include national flags, religious icons, iconic landmarks,
traditional clothing, or even gestures and body language.
8. Technology and Innovation
- Influence culture and society.
- The adaptation of new technologies can shape how people live, behave,
work, and interact with one another.
- Additionally, culture can also influence the development and the use of
technology.
9. Education and Knowledge
- Plays a vital role in passing on knowledge, skills, values from one
generation to the next.
- Education systems and approaches can vary significantly across cultures,
shaping individual’s perspectives and shaping societal.
10.Social Institution
- Social institution refers to established structures and systems that govern
various aspects of society, such as the family, religion, government,
economy, healthcare, and legal systems.
- These institution help maintain social order and provide frameworks for
behavior and interaction.
Traditional Clothing
 Kimono
 Sari
 Flannel
 Kilt
 Turban
 Boubou
 Choli
 Dashiki

Iconic Landmarks
 Great Wall of China
 Statue of Liberty
 Eiffel Tower
 Taj Mahal
 Statue of Rizal
 Statue of Bonifasio/Bonifacio
Sports
 Takraw
 Arnis
 Volleyball
 Basketball
 Tennis
 Badminton