Unit 2: Culture and American Society Sociology Unit 2: Culture and American Society

1. Culture 2. material culture 3. nonmaterial culture 4. society 5. technology 6. language 7. values 8. norms 9. folkways 10. mores 11. laws 12. culture trait 13. culture complexes 14. culture patterns 15. ethnocentrism 16. cultural relativism 17. subculture 18. counterculture 19. narcissism

Culture Material Culture Nonmaterial Culture Shared products of human groups. These products include both physical objects and the beliefs, values, and behaviors shared by the group. Material Culture Physical objects created by human groups. Also called artifacts. Nonmaterial Culture Abstract human creations, such as language, ideas, beliefs, rules, skills, family patterns, work practices, and political and economic systems.

Society Group of mutually interdependent people who have organized in such a way as to share a common culture and have a feeling of unity.

The Components of Culture Technology Knowledge and tools people use for practical purposes. Symbols Anything that stands for something else and has a shared meaning attached to it. Language Organization of written and spoken symbols into as standardized system. Values Shared beliefs about what is good or bad, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable. Norms Shared rules of conduct that tell people how to act in specific situations. Symbols: language, gestures, images, sounds, physical objects, events, and elements of the natural world can serve as symbols as long as people recognize that they convey a particular meaning.

Folkways Mores (More Ayz) Laws Norms that do not have great moral significance attached to them—the common customs of everyday life. Mores (More Ayz) Norms that have great moral significance attached to them. Laws Written rules of conduct that are enacted and enforced by the government. By definition, the violation of these norms is considered a criminal act.

Culture trait Culture complexes Culture patterns Individual tool, act, or belief that is related to a particular situation or need. Culture complexes Cluster of interrelated culture traits. Culture patterns Combination of a number of culture complexes into an interrelated whole.

Ethnocentrism Cultural relativism Tendency to view one’s own culture and group as superior to all other cultures and groups. Cultural relativism Belief that cultures should be judged by their own standards.

Subculture Counterculture Narcissism Group with its own unique values, norms, and behaviors that exists within a larger culture. Counterculture Group that rejects the values, norms, and practices of the larger society and replaces them with a new set of cultural patterns. Narcissism Extreme self-centeredness