| Term | Definition |
|---|
| culture | complex system of meaning and behavior that defines the way of life for a given group or society |
| material culture | consists of the objects created in a given society; buildings, art, tools, etc. |
| nonmaterial culture | includes norms, laws, customs, ideas, and beliefs of a group of people |
| ethnocentrism | habit of only seeing things from the point of view of one's group |
| cultural relativism | idea that something can be understood and judged only in relationship to the cultural context in which it appears |
| language | set of symbols and rules that, put together in a meaningful way, provides a complex communication system |
| Sapir-Whorf hypothesis | asserts that language provides the categories through which social reality is defined |
| norms | specific cultural expectiations for how to behave in a given situation |
| folkways | general standards of behavior adhered to by a group |
| mores | strict norms that control moral and ethical behavior |
| laws | written set of guidelines that define right and wrong in society |
| social sanctions | mechanisms of social control that enforce norms |
| taboos | behaviors that bring the most serious sanctions |
| ethnomethodology | theoretical approach in sociology based on the idea that you can discover the normal social order through disrupting it |
| beliefs | shared ideas held collectively by people within a given culture about what is true |
| values | abstract standards in a society or group that define ideal principles |
| dominant culture | culture of the most powerful group in a society |
| subculture | cultures of groups whose values and norms of behavior differ to some degree from those of the dominant culture |
| countercultures | subcultures created as reaction against the values of the dominant culture |
| global culture | diffusion of a single culture throughout the world |
| popular culture | beliefs, practices, and objects that are part of everyday traditions |
| mass media | channels of communication available to wide segments of the population; print, film, internet and electronic media |
| reflection hypothesis | mass media reflect values of the general population |
| cultural hegemony | pervasive and excessive influence of one culture throughout society |
| cultural capital | cultural resources that are deemed worthy and give advantages to groups possessing such capital |
| culture shock | feeling of disorientation when one enconters a new or rapidly changed cultural situation |
| culture lag | cultures adjust slowly to changing cultural conditions |
| cultural diffusion | transmission of cultural elements from one society or cultural group to another |
Combine with other sets
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace