Cultural Concepts

and Variations
Module 8, Lesson 2
(pages 229-232)

Other Cultural Concepts

Ethnocentrism
A feeling that ones own
particular way of life is superior
and right and that all other
culture are inferior and defective
Tends to judge other cultures
in terms of values and norms of
ones own culture
Gives rise to the erroneous
concept
of
perfunctorily
regarding
ones
culture
as
superior and right in comparison
with other cultures

Cultural Relativism
Refers to the notion that each culture should be
evaluated according to its own merits and
standards rather than from the standpoint or bases
of a different culture

Xenocentrism
The belief that what is
foreign is best in terms of
ones lifestyle, products, or
ideas

Temporocentrism
The belief that ones
own
time
is
more
important than that of the
past or future

VS
Appl
e

My phone

Subculture
Group or category within a society that shares
in the general culture but maintains distinctive
ways of thinking, acting, and feeling.
Usually found in a big and complex society

Counter-culture
A subculture that has value and norms that
sharply contradict those of the larger society

Culture
Universal
Common cultural
elements that are
found within all
known societies

Law

Beliefs

Include norms,
laws, language,
beliefs, and values

Language

Culture Shock

The
experience
of
disorientation and frustration
that occurs when individuals
find themselves among those
who do not share their
fundamental premises

Culture Lag

The inability of a given

society
to
adapt
immediately
to
another
culture as a result of the
disparity in the rate of
change
between
the
material and non-material
elements of culture

Cultural Integration
Concerned with adoption of a
mass consumer culture where
everything from fashion to sport,
music to television, becomes
integrated into the national
culture, often without challenge

Cultural
Diversity

The variation of culture in

some ways with another
culture which guides human
behavior
From language to appearance, from great ideas to
good manners, from laws to values, the cultures of
the world offer what it seems like an infinite number
of alternatives.

Conditions That Affect Cultural

Variations

Environment

Cultural Themes

Modes of Acquiring Culture

Imitation

Human action by which one

tends to duplicate more or less
exactly the behavior of others

Indoctrination

Takes the form of formal

teaching or training which
may happen anywhere.

Conditioning

Through norms prevailing in

ones social and cultural milieu,
and through the process of
conditioning,
the
individual
acquires certain patterns of
beliefs, values, behaviors, and
actions.
This process is further
reinforce by a system of reward
and punishment in the cultural
environment

Acculturation

Amalgamation

A process by which
societies
with
different
cultures
are
modified
through fairly close and long
continued contact

The intermarriage of
persons
coming
from
different
cultural
groups
resulting in some kind of
biological fusion.