UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY,
AND POLITICS LESSON
1ST QUARTER REVIEWER
Lesson 1: Cultural Variation, Social
Difference and Political Identity
Cultural variation refers to the rich diversity in
social practices that different cultures exhibit
around the world.
Social difference is a situation where people felt
discriminated and there are also individuals on
the basis of social characteristics and qualities.
Social difference can create discrimination
among individuals.
Political identity is always associated with
group affiliation and describes the ways in which
being a member of a certain group might express
specific political opinions and attitude.
The Philippines is a democratic country, led by a
directly elected president who serves as both the
head of state and the head of government.
LESSON 2: Significance of Studying Culture,
Society, and Politics!
-Studying culture helps us to understand our past, cultures and institutions that structure power and
our place in the world, and our future, thereby
allowing us to make better decisions in the
present. It helps us to understand ourselves
because we all come from a common source.
-Studying society is significant because it
provides a system of stratification, and means of
social participation. It encourages you to think
sociologically (stimulate sociological
imagination).
-An example is when everybody thinks joining
the call for protest is correct even though you
haven't seen or known why such a thing
happened. Studying society will also provide you Every society has a culture of its own that differs
with the skills to craft critical questions about from other societies. The culture of every society is
taken-for-granted communities.
-Politics helps you know your rights, clarify what and beliefs are not constant. Culture varies from
you believe, a living, breathing subject and helps society to society.
you to understand our nation's parties.
3: Rationale for Studying
Anthropology, Political Science, and Sociology.
Anthropology is the study of humans and their
society in the past and present.
Subdisciplines:
Archaeology provides us with the
opportunity to learn about past cultures through the
study of artifacts and fossils such as animal bones
and human remains.
Physical Anthropology- Concerned with all
humans, at all times, in all humanity's
dimensions—a study of the totality of human
existence.
Sociology refers to the body of knowledge
concerned with the systematic study of different
facets of our society, several social phenomena, and
the effects of these occurrences on people’s lives.
Political Science is the study of the nature, causes,
and consequences of collective decisions and
actions taken by groups of people embedded in
authority
LESSON 4, 5 and 6: Aspects and Characteristics
of Culture
Culture . . . is that complex whole which includes
knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and
any other capabilities and habits acquired by man
as a member of society.
Complex whole means made up of complicated or
interrelated parts
unique by itself. Cultures are not uniform. Cultural
elements like customs, traditions, morals, values,
Socialization/Enculturation- It refers to the
lifelong process of social interaction, the process by
which people learn the requirement of their
surrounding culture and obtain the values and
behaviors appropriate on necessary in that culture.
 Lesson 7: Theoretical Perspectives of Culture
and Society
Language- the way a certain group of people
Symbolic Interaction Approach-According to
communicate and speak with each other. Written,
Macionis 2012, this approach sees society as “the
oral and nonverbal.
product of the daily interactions of individuals. In
this process, people attach meaning to everything.
Religion- what people believe and how they
explain life's meanings. Death, birth, rituals, Conflict Theory first purported by Karl Marx, is a
church, belief in God or a higher power. theory that society is in a state of perpetual conflict
because of competition for limited resources.
Daily Life- -It is how people dress, eat, and go Conflict theory holds that social order is maintained
about living and doing things every day. by domination and power (rather than consensus
and conformity). According to conflict theory,
History - What people think are important to those with wealth and power try to hold on to it by
pass along to future generations. It is what any means possible, chiefly by suppressing the
happened in the past that has affected the present poor and powerless.
and shaped the
way a certain place life.

Arts- The way people express themselves in LESSON 8: Forms of Tangible and Intangible
ways such as paintings, sculptures, Heritage
architecture, dance, music, theater, and literature. A tangible heritage is a physical artifact or object
significant to the archaeology, architecture, science,
Values- it is set of ideas people share about what or technology of a specific culture. This means that
is good, bad, desirable and undesirable. this type of heritage is perceptible, touchable or
Norms -are behavioral rules or standards for concrete.
social interaction.
Folkways- these are norms for everyday Example: traditional clothing, utensils, vehicles,
behavior that people follow for the sake of documents, public works and architecture built and
tradition or convenience. constructed by cultural group (e.g. buildings,
Taboo-is a very strong negative norm; it is a historical places, monuments, temples, graves,
prohibition of certain behavior that is so strict roads,
that violating it results in extreme disgust and
even expulsion from the group or society. bridges)
Example: Wearing an inappropriate dress to a
An intangible heritage is not a physical or concrete
place of worship is considered unacceptable in
item. It exists intellectually in the culture and
almost all cultures.
includes: Songs, Myths, Voices, Values, Traditions,
Culture is shared. Because we share culture with
Oral history
other members of our group, we are able to act in
socially appropriate ways as well as predict how Cultural Heritage- the representation of the ways
others will act. of living developed by society or group and passed
Culture is dynamic. This simply means that on from generation to generation.
cultures interact and change.
Culture is Flexible. Culture is capable of being
flexible to be able to face any challenges
that life would bring.
Culture is Adaptive. People use technology, ideas
and activities in order to survive and
expand the human culture and society, this only
depicts that culture is adaptive.
 LESSON 13: SOCIALIZATION AND
ENDCULTURATION
The Looking-Glass Self Theory (Charles Horton
Cooley) stating that a person’s self develops out of
society’s interpersonal interactions and the
recognitions of others. Individuals shape
themselves based on what other individuals see and
LESSON 9: Ethnocentrism and Cultural
affirm other people ‘s opinions on themselves.
Relativism
Ethnocentrism is the tendency to use one’s own Norms and values – norms are culturally
cultural standards and values to judge the determined rules that guide people regarding what
behavior and beliefs of people with different is right, wrong, proper, or improper.
cultures.
People who are ethnocentric believe their cultural 2 Types of Status
beliefs are morally correct and others are morally
questionable. Achieved status is one that a person has earned or
The opposite of ethnocentrism is cultural chosen based on his/her abilities and hard work.
relativism, the view that the behavior in one This is usually signified by a certain profession,
culture should not be judged by the standards of such as a professional athlete.
another. For cultural relativist, the values, Ascribed status is not earned, and it is not
knowledge, and behavior of people must be something that people have control over. For
understood within their own cultural context. instance, it can be ascribed to a person's race or sex.
Also, it is not usually a choice in most matters.
LESSON 10: The Human Origins and the
Capacity for Cultures
Homo Sapiens-skilled hunters
Homo Habilis- have skills in hunting and LESSON 14: Conformity and Deviance
slaughtering
Conformity is a type of social influence which
involve change in belief or behavior in order to fit
LESSON 12: Processes of Cultural and
in (McLeod 2016).
Socio-Political Evolution
Age of Metals: Copper, Bronze, and Iron Deviance in sociological context, describes actions
Mesopotamia- Early civilization began to form or behaviors that violate informal social norms or
around the time of the Neolithic formally-enacted rules. It is often divided into two
Revolution-12000 BCE. types of activities.
Egypt- Egyptian civilization was developed
along the Nile River in large part because the Formal deviance includes criminal violation of
river’s formal-enacted laws. Example include robbery,
annual flooding ensured reliable, rich soil for theft, rape and assault.
growing crops.
3 Types of Political System: Informal deviance refers to violations of informal
Authoritarianism-In Authoritarian government, social norms, which are norms that have not been
the people have no power or representation. codified into law. Example of informal deviance
A monarchy government controlled by a king or include bullying, talking loudly inside the
queen determined by a predisposed line of classroom session.
sovereignty. Merton’s outline 5 modes of adaptation
Democracy. A form of government in which the
citizens create and vote for laws directly, or 1. Conformity. It involves the acceptance of the
indirectly via representative. cultural goals and means of attaining those goals.
People who believe in normative means for

attaining goals justifiably. The follow the rules of
society.
2. Innovation. It involves the acceptance of the
goals of a culture but the rejection of the
traditional and/or legitimate means of attaining
those goals. Innovators are individuals who
accept the goal, reject the means to get the
society’s goal. People use different ways to
achieve those goals.
3. Ritualism. It involved the rejection of cultural
goals or do not believe in the goals of the society.
However, people still accept the means by doing
the same things as conformists. People insist to
attain the goal, but they are aware how to achieve
it the right way.
4. Retreatism. It involves the rejection of both the
cultural goals and the traditional means of
achieving those goals. Retreatants reject cultural
norms without replacing those goals and
objectives, instead creating a norm they believe
in.
5. Rebellion. It involved the rejection of cultural
norms and trying to change the goals and means
to achieve their beliefs.
LESSON 16: SOCIAL GROUPS
Primary Group-involves interaction among
members who have an emotional investment or
attachment in one another and in a situation.
Examples:
Family. An organized group, usually related to
blood or some binding or similarity factor, in
which individual roles and relationships change
over time.
Friends. Having similar interests and enjoy
spending time together.
Love relationship. It is a profound expression of
respect, trust, honesty, integrity, intimacy,
chemistry and cooperation.
Secondary Group- A large group of people share
common goals which often aim to complete tasks
at hand. In this type of group, people are
surrounded with relationships which are not
personal.
Examples:
Classroom. A classroom consists of students and
a teacher where the teacher oversees the creation
same location for the purpose of completing a task.
In-Group and Out-Group
An in-group is a group where people feel that they
belong to the social group. In the field of sociology
and social psychology, in-group is defined as a
social group to which a person psychologically
identifies himself as a member of a particular
group. In contrary, an out-group is a social group
that is not recognized by any individual.
In-group favoritism. It is the feeling of people to
favor one group over others.
Out-group derogation. A phenomenon in which an
out-group is perceived as threatening to the
members of an in-group.
Social influence. People have been shown to be
differentially influenced by in- group members.
That is, under conditions wherein group
categorization is psychologically salient, people
will shift their beliefs in line with in-group social
norms.
Group polarization. This refers to the tendency of
groups to make decisions that are extreme than the
initial inclination of its members.
Intergroup aggression. People in in-group who try
to harm another individual because they feel that
they are part of the out-group.
Reference Group and Network Groups
A reference group is a group to which one can
compare himself or herself to others. This group
serves as a standard to which it measures one’s
behaviors and attitudes.
Network Groups- these are sets of informal and
formal social ties that link people to each other.
of structures and environments that help the
student learn.
Place of Employment. In a work atmosphere,
employees and managers come together in the

LESSON 17: Examining Cultural, Social, and

Political Institutions
Types of Family by Size or Structure
Nuclear Family. A family unit that consists of a
single couple or monogamous family, that is –
the husband, wife, and their child or children.
Extended Family- It is a family composed of
parents and children as well asother kin. It is also
known as consanguine family. Filipino families
living together and support each other because
this has been their way of life since they were
born.
Reconstituted family. A family unit that consists
of one or both parents who have a child or
children from a previous relationship or past
marriage, but they have combined to form a new
family often after a death of a previous spouse, or
marital separation, annulment, or divorce.
Single parent family. A family unit which is
headed by one parent (either father or mother
only) raising a child or children.

Monogamy. It a form of marriage in which one

man marries one woman.
Polygamy. The practice or custom of having
more than one wife or husband at the same time.
Marriage. The legally or formally organized
union of a man and a woman as partners in a PREPARED BY: EDUCUALITY

relationship.
Divorce. Divorce occurs after the couple decides
not to live together and that may no longer want
to be married to each other. They agree to sign
legal papers that make them each single again
and allow them to marry someone else if they
wish.