FHHM1114

INTRODUCTION TO
SOCIOLOGY
TOPIC 2 CULTURE
 This topic is
corresponding to:

• Chapter 3 [Part 2]
in Schaefer’s text;
and

• Chapter 2 [Part 1]
Main Reference 2:
Schaefer, R. T. (2012). Sociology (13th in Henslin’s text.
ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill.

Main Reference 1:
Henslin, J. M. (2012). Sociology: A down-to-earth
approach (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson.
 TOPIC 2: CULTURE

2.1 WHAT IS CULTURE?

2.2 ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
2.3 CULTURAL DIVERSITY
2.4 SOCIOLOGICAL PESPECTIVES
ON CULTURE
2.5 SUMMARY
 TOPIC 2: CULTURE

2.1 WHAT IS CULTURE?

2.1.1 DEFINING CULTURE
2.1.2 CULTURE AND SOCIETY
2.1.3 CULTURAL UNIVERSAL
2.1.4 CULTURAL RELATIVISM
 2.1 WHAT IS CULTURE?
2.1.1 DEFINING CULTURE

CULTURE
The totality of learned, socially
transmitted customs, beliefs,
knowledge, language, norms,
values, material objects and
behaviour
• In sociological term,
culture refers to ALL
objects and ideas
within a society,
including everything
we do, say and make
or create
• Culture is a way of life
for a group of people
MATERIAL CULTURE
The physical or technological aspects of
our daily lives, including food, buildings,
vehicles and raw materials

NONMATERIAL CULTURE
A group’s ways of thinking (e.g. beliefs,
values and knowledge) and ways of
doing (e.g. behaviours and conversations
through language)
• The food and
eating utensils are
examples of
material culture
• Nonmaterial culture
also known as
symbolic culture
• It includes eating
with bare hand,
speaking, queuing
and handshaking
Exercise 2.1
Hairstyle
• Which of these are material culture
and which one are nonmaterial
culture? language

Clothing
Speech
Jewelry
Makeup
Gesture
Value

Norms
Beliefs
• Generally, nonmaterial culture is more
resistant to change than material culture

CULTURE LAG
Period of maladjustment when the
nonmaterial culture is still struggling
to adapt to new material conditions

• Many elderlies experiencing culture lag as they

having difficulties in adapting to the world with
internet
CHARACTERISTICS
OF CULTURE

 Culture is a
universal feature of
human social life
 Culture is
cumulative
 Culture is learned
 Culture is shared
• Our speech, our gestures, our beliefs, our
customs are usually taken-for-granted

• We assume that they are “normal” or

“natural”, and almost always we follow them
without questions

• We have internalized culture through

socialization, until culture is within us
 THE TRUTHS ABOUT “CULTURE”

1. There is nothing "natural" about material

culture
2. There is nothing "natural" about
nonmaterial culture
3. Culture penetrates deep into our thinking
and becomes the lens through which we
perceive and evaluate what is going on
around us
 THE TRUTHS ABOUT “CULTURE”

4. Culture provides implicit instructions

that tell us what we ought to do in various
situations
It provides a basis for our decision
making
5. Culture also provides a "moral
imperative"; that is, the culture that we
internalizes becomes the "right" way of
doing things
Exercise 2.2
1. What if you run into a
Muslim man OR woman
you know? What should
you do?

2. Inviting your Malay,

Chinese and Indian
friends to your wedding?
 2.1 WHAT IS CULTURE?
2.1.2 CULTURE AND SOCIETY

• The fact that you share a similar culture

with others helps to define the group or
society to which you belong

• Members of a society learn and later on

transmit culture from one generation to the
next
• A society generally shares and participates in a
common culture
• Having a common culture also simplifies many
day-to-day interactions

Exercise 2.3
• How do culture simplify
interactions with other
passengers in a
commuter or train
 2.1 WHAT IS CULTURE?
2.1.3 CULTURAL UNIVERSAL

CULTURAL UNIVERSAL
The common practices and beliefs in
ALL societies, which are the
adaptations to meet essential human
needs, such as the need for food,
shelter, clothing and reproduction
• George Murdock compiled a list of
cultural universals, including athletic
sports, cooking, dancing, visiting,
personal names, marriage,
medicine, religious ritual, funeral
ceremonies etc
• However, the manner in which they
are expressed varies from culture
to culture
• Culture may also change
dramatically over time
2.1 WHAT IS CULTURE?
2.1.4 CULTURAL RELATIVISM

CULTURAL RELATIVISM
Viewing people’s behaviours from the
perspective of their OWN culture
• It places a priority on understanding
other cultures, rather than dismissing
them as "strange" or "exotic"
• Such value neutrality is important in
Max Weber’s view – verstehen
• It stresses that different social
contexts give rise to different norms
and values
Exercise 2.4
• Can we avoid
prejudice, bias,
discrimination and
racial or ethnic-
group conflicts
without cultural
relativism in
Malaysia?
Discuss
 TOPIC 2: CULTURE

2.2 ELEMENTS OF CULTURE

2.2.1 LANGUAGE
2.2.2 VALUES
2.2.3 NORMS
2.2.4 SANCTIONS
2.2.5 SUMMARY
 2.2 ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
2.2.1 LANGUAGE
• Language is a major element of culture that
underlie cultural variations
LANGUAGE
A system of symbols that can be
combined in an infinite number of
ways and can represent not only
objects but also abstract thought
• Language is the foundation of every culture
• It includes:
 speech,
 written characters, numerals and
symbols; and
 nonverbal gestures and expressions
• Each word is actually a symbol, a sound to
which we have attached some peculiar
meaning
• Computer
users have
developed a
set of symbols
to convey
their feelings
which is called
emoticon,
a
written
gesture
• Using language, we can:
 Convey information
about events remote
in time and space
 Discuss things we
have never seen
 Develop abstract
concepts
 Tell stories
 Make jokes
• Members of society generally share a
common language which facilitates day-to-
day exchanges with others
• Ability to speak other languages is crucial to
intercultural relations, likes in Malaysian
society
• However, a common language may also have
variations in the form of dialects, pidgins or
Creoles
• Malay dialects
spoken by
majority of
Malays and
Orang Asli in
Peninsular
Malaysia
• East
Malaysia is
also home
to a variety
of
languages,
some of
which are
known to
be extinct
or on the
verge of
extinction
SAPIR-WHORF HYPOTHESIS
A hypothesis proposed by Edward Sapir
and Benjamin Whorf that language
creates ways of thinking and
perceiving, that shape our
interpretation of reality

• Language serves to both describe and shape

reality and cultural experiences
• According to Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
 Language precedes thought
 Language is not a given, but culturally
determined
 Language may color how we see,
taste, smell, feel, hear and think of the
world – when we learn words, we also
acquiring the perceptions embedded in
that language
Exercise 2.5
• Read and analyze the following excerpt
bases on the Finnish society:
• Are you having
the similar
difficulty as with
Koriseva? How
so?
• How does your
own culture
perceive and
express “love”?
• Feminists have noted that gender-related
language can reflect the traditional
acceptance of men and women in certain
occupations (gender role)

SEXIST LANGUAGE NONSEXIST LANGUAGE

mailman mail carriers
policeman police officer
fireman firefighter
小姐 (xiao jie) 女士 (nü shi)
bocor datang haid / menstruasi
Other examples
• Language may create and reinforce
perceptions on about race and ethnicity,
transmitting ideas of superiority or
negativity towards another group

RACIST LANGUAGE NONRACIST LANGUAGE

Pendatang Chinese and Indians
Keling Indians
Bangla Bangladeshis
Indon Indonesians
Jakun Ignorant / Jahil
 2.2 ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
2.2.2 VALUES

VALUES
The collective conceptions of what is
good, desirable and proper — or
bad, undesirable and improper in a
culture
Exercise 2.6
• Which of the following are good, desirable
and proper, and which one are not? What
values underpinning your answers?
 stingy Values
Diligence
 being rude and disrespectful Honesty
 obeying rules and laws Loyalty
 friendly Generosity
Politeness
 hardworking Kindness
 cheating Discipline
• Values may be specific or general
• Values may change, but most remain
relatively stable during one person’s lifetime
• Values underlie our preferences, guides our
choices and indicate what we hold
worthwhile in our life
• Values influence people’s behaviour and
serve as a criteria to evaluating the actions
of others
Exercise 2.7
• What are the values you hold as an individual?
List at least 10 of them. Why are them being so
important to you?
2.2 ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
2.2.3 NORMS

NORMS
The established standards of behavior
maintained by a society
The social expectations or rules of
behaviours that develop out of a
group’s values
• Every group develops
expectations concerning the
“right” way to reflect its
values
• To be significant, norms
MUST be widely shared and
understood, such as
heterosexuality - children are
socialized to accept this norm
from a very young age
 NORMS

FORMAL INFORMAL
NORMS NORMS

LAWS TABOO

WRITTEN MORES
RULES &
REGULATIONS
FOLKWAYS
FORMAL NORMS
Norms that have been written down and
specify strict punishment for violators –
e.g. laws or “governmental social control”

INFORMAL NORMS
Norms that are generally understood but
NOT precisely recorded – e.g. dress code
for shopping and manners
• Many informal
norms, especially
mores and taboos
have been
institutionalized
into formal norms
• Informal norms are
classified according
to their relative
importance
TABOO
A norm so strongly
ingrained in that even
the thought of its
violation is greeted
with revulsion
MORES
Norms that are strictly enforced because
they are deemed essential to core values
or the welfare of a society

FOLKWAYS
Norms governing everyday behavior that are
NOT strictly enforced
• Sociologists Ian Robertson:
“A man who walks down a
street wearing nothing on the
upper half of his body is
violating a folkway; a man is
wearing nothing on the lower
half of his body is violating
one of mores (requirement
that people cover their
genitals and buttocks in
public)” (1987)
• The challenges of norms:
 when norms are weakly enforced, people
tend to evade them
 A violation to the norms may actually
represent conformity to a social group,
e.g. peer group
 Norms may conflict each other, e.g. mind
your own business versus assisting a
victim of spousal violence
 Social changes constantly strengthen or
weaken norms
2.2 ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
2.2.4 SANCTIONS

SANCTIONS
Reactions in the forms of penalties and
rewards for conduct concerning a
social norm
POSITIVE SANCTIONS
Expression of approval for following a norm
(conformity)

NEGATIVE SANCTIONS
Expression of disapproval for breaking a
norm (deviance and crime)
Exercise 2.8
• Identify the types of sanction in the following
situations and whether the sanctions are in the
form of material OR symbolic?
 stare
 fined
 cheers
 prize
 a pat on the back
 2.2 ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
2.2.5 SUMMARY
• Values, norms and sanctions are often directly
related
 TOPIC 2: CULTURE

2.3 CULTURAL DIVERSITY

2.3.1 MULTICULTURALISM
2.3.2 SUBCULTURES AND
COUNTERCULTURE
 2.3 CULTURAL DIVERSITY
2.1.1 MULTICULTURALISM

MULTICULTURALISM
Ethnic groups exist separately and share
equally in economic and political life

• Since Malaysia is a multicultural, ‘multiracial’,

multireligious and multilingual society,
respecting cultural diversity and promoting
equality of different cultures is essential
 THREATS TO
MULTICULTURALISM

DOMINANT
ETHNOCENTRISM
IDEOLOGY
ETHNOCENTRISM
A term coined by William Graham
Sumner to refer to the tendency to
assume that one’s own culture and
way of life represent the norm or is
superior to all others
• The ethnocentric
person sees his
or her group as a
center or
defining point of
culture and
views all
cultures as
deviations from
what is "normal"
• Conflict theorists point out that ethnocentric
value judgments serve to devalue groups
and to deny equal opportunities
• Functionalists point out that ethnocentrism
serves to maintain a sense of solidarity
by promoting group pride and to enhance
social stability
• The dysfunction of ethnocentrism is social
tension and worse, cultural war and
cultural genocide
• Anyone who is ethnocentric and does not
understand cultural relativism will experience
culture shock

CULTURE SHOCK
A feeling of disorientation, uncertainty,
out of place, or fearfulness when
immersed in an unfamiliar culture
• Are you ready to eat bug? Sago worms are a
delicious delicacy for many coastal
Sarawakians
• Are you having a culture shock by learning that
other than cooked, it can also be eaten alive?
Exercise 2.9
• What are the positive and negative
consequences of ethnocentrism in
Malaysia?
 Remarks:
View Malaysian society as a whole while
concurrently take into account of diverse
cultural groups we have in Malaysia, such
as Siamese Malaysians, Sikhs, Indian
Muslims, Penans in Sarawak and Muruts in
Sabah
DOMINANT IDEOLOGY
The set of cultural beliefs and
practices that helps maintain
powerful social, economic, and political
interests
• According to Karl Marx, dominant
ideology serves the interests of the
ruling class
• The ruling class control the means of
producing beliefs about reality
through religion, education and media
• Feminists would also argue dominant
ideology will help to control women
and keep them in a subordinate
position
Exercise 2.10
• Are demonstration a part of our culture in
Malaysia? The government disagrees with
many civil societies and political dissidents on
this issue. Discuss this by using the concept
of “dominant ideology”
Street demonstration
in 1946

Street demonstration
2012.
2.3 CULTURAL DIVERSITY
2.3.2 SUBCULTURES AND COUNTERCULTURE

SUBCULTURE
A segment of society that shares
distinctive pattern of mores, folkways,
and values that differs from the larger
society
A culture existing within a larger,
dominant culture
 ARGOT
A specialized language that
distinguishes a subculture from the
wider society

• Such argot allows insiders to understand words

with special meanings
• Interactionists emphasize that such language and
symbols offer a powerful way for a subculture to
feel cohesive and maintain its identity
• Such argot may also be found popular among
urban, young Malaysians, who use slangs to
interact among themselves and as such difficult
for the elders to understand their conversations

Slangs Meanings
Awek Girl
Terrer Awesomely amazing or good
Usha Survey
Skodeng Peep
Cun Pretty
• A unique and popular
subculture emerges in
Malaysia in recent years is
the illegal motorcycle
racing as an informal sport
among Malaysian urban
youths
• The members of this
subculture are known as
Mat Rempit
• They usually conduct illegal racings from 12pm
to 5am, especially on weekends and public
holidays
• They form a tight-knit group through:
 ‘mengeteh’ or hanging out in hawker stalls
 Information sharing and gossiping
 Discussion about the races, bets, roads,
strategies etc
 Stress or anger relief while illegal racing
 Satisfaction and joy in showing off their
masculinity while illegal racing
• Argot among Mat Rempit includes:

Argots Meanings
Minah Rempit, Cikaro or Sex prize after winning an illegel
Bohsia motorcycle race
Barang Panas Stolen or high-demand goods
Jom (Tiga) Tiang The distance for the race
Line Panas or Line Clear Road safety for illegal racing
Kacang Ecstacy
Boh Marijuana
Wheelie, Wikang,
Dangerous acts while racing
Superman,
motorcycles
Skating, Cilok and Corner
COUNTERCULTURE
A subculture that conspicuously and
deliberately opposes certain aspects
of the larger culture
• A cult usually is a counterculture by
promoting alternative norms and values
• Ayah Pin is the founder of
a cult in Terengganu who
rejected Islamic teachings,
including Rukun Iman,
Rukun Islam, Syariah etc
and his cult teachings had
since been outlawed in
Malaysia
• Terrorism is another counterculture that
threatens peace and stability in Malaysia
DIAGRAM DEPICTING THE EXISTENCE OF SUBCULTURES
AND COUNTERCULTURES WITHIN THE LARGER,
DOMINANT CULTURE

LARGER / DOMINANT CULTURE

Subculture of
Counterculture of
Gangsters
Terrorists

Counterculture of
Subculture of Cult Members
Mat Rempit
Subculture of
Subculture of Homeless People
Drug Addicts
 TOPIC 2: CULTURE

2.4 SOCIOLOGICAL PESPECTIVES

ON CULTURE
2.4 SOCIOLOGICAL PESPECTIVES ON
CULTURE
SUMMARY
TOPIC 2 CULTURE
 CORE CONCEPT 1

Culture is the totality of learned,

socially transmitted customs, beliefs,
knowledge, language, norms,
values, material objects and
behaviour; There are two types of
culture, namely material culture
(physical or technological aspects of
our daily lives) and nonmaterial
culture (a group’s ways of thinking
and ways of doing)
 CORE CONCEPT 2

Cultural universal is the common

practices and beliefs in all societies,
but the manner in which they are
expressed varies from culture to
culture, resulting in culture variations
and diversities; Cultural relativism is
viewing people’s behaviours from
the perspective of their own culture
 CORE CONCEPT 3

Culture is consisted of four

elements, namely language, values,
norms, and sanctions; Language is
the foundation of every culture;
Values, norms, and sanctions are
often directly interrelated; Values is
the foundation of norms and to
enforce norms, society resorts to the
use of positive and negative
sanctions
 CORE CONCEPT 4
The threats to multiculturalism in Malaysia
are ethnocentrism and dominant ideology;
Ethnocentrism is the tendency to assume
that one’s own culture and way of life
represent the norm or is superior to all
others while dominant ideology is the set
of cultural beliefs and practices that helps
maintain powerful social, economic, and
political interests; Culture shock is a
feeling of disorientation, uncertainty, out of
place, or fearfulness when immersed in
an unfamiliar culture
 CORE CONCEPT 5

Subculture is a segment of society

that shares distinctive pattern of
mores, folkways, and values that
differs from the larger society;
Subculture members tend to use a
specialized language called argot to
communicate among themselves;
Counterculture is a subculture that
conspicuously and deliberately
opposes certain aspects of the larger
culture