Culture Vocab Human Behavior

Culture  Culture is a system of beliefs, values, and attitudes about life  What culture(s) are you apart of?

Enculturation  Occurs when each generation passes along what it has learned to the next as the culture is carried on

 When a person takes on the customs and language of a new culture and puts aside some habits and patterns of the old culture- it can be forced due to ethnocentrism Assimilation

Prejudice  When we prejudge a person or group without having all the info and facts  Everyone has prejudices, sometimes they are positive—How?

Stereotype  Preconceived, inaccurate, rigid beliefs about individuals or groups of peoples  Often oversimplified

Self-fulfilling prophecy  We see what we want to see; we become what others expect of us Examples of Self-Fulfilling Prophecy -You think a certain race dislikes your race so you treat them poorly, therefore they treat you as though they dislike you -You expect your new roommate to be shy so you don’t speak much to him after he moves in, and he therefore does seem shy -A coach expects his freshmen to be uncoordinated and unskilled so he does not play them often, and when he does they are rusty and do not perform well -Your teacher expects you to do well and she spends extra time with you preparing for the exam, so you get an A

Subculture  A group of people with similar customs or language who live within a larger group with a different culture  Examples?

Culture Shock  This is experienced when language and customs are unfamiliar to a person  When have you experienced culture shock?

Ethnocentrism  People who believe that their culture is the most natural or the best, which can lead to hatred and violence  Why are some people ethnocentric?

Perception  How we perceive, evaluate, categorize, or form judgments of people or things