1. Cultural Influences
Chp. 16 with Duane Weaver

2. Outline Culture and Culture Variability Norms Myths Rituals
Sacred & Profane Consumption
Desacralization/Sacraliztion

3. Culture and Culture Variability
Culture: Values, ethics, rituals, traditions, material objects and services produced or valued by the members of a society
A cultural system consists of 3 functional areas:
Ecology
Social Structure
Ideology
Adaptation to habitat
How social order is maintained
Shared ethos: moral and aesthetic values

4. Uncertainty Avoidance Masculinity/Femininity
Culture Variability
Although every culture is different, four dimensions account for most of the variance:
Power Distance
Uncertainty Avoidance
How the society handles ambiguity (religion?)
Power impact on relationships
Masculinity/Femininity
Individualism
How a society defines gender roles (examples?)
Collectivist or individualist focused society?

5. Norms Rules that govern what is right or wrong. Norms Enacted Norms
Explicitly decided
Culturally embedded
Enacted
Norms
Crescive
Norms
Subtleties (suggested appropriate behaviour) - dressing, dining…
Rules/guides
Taboos - punishable
Customs
Mores
Conventions

6. Myths
Myth: a story containing symbolic elements that expresses the shared emotions and ideals of a culture
Myths serve four interrelated functions in a culture
Explain the origins of existence
Metaphysical
Emphasize that all components of the universe
are part of a single picture
Cosmological
Help maintain social order by authorizing a
social code
Sociological
Provide models for personal conduct
Psychological

7. (Let’s discuss Table 16-1 for examples)
Rituals
Ritual
A set of symbolic behaviours that occur in a fixed sequence and tend to be repeated periodically.
(Let’s discuss Table 16-1 for examples)
Ritual Artifacts
Items used in the performance of rituals
Wedding cakes, birthday candles…(others??)

8. Sacred and Profane Consumption
Sacred Consumption
Involves objects and events that are set apart from normal life and are treated with some degree of respect or awe
Profane Consumption
Involves consumer objects and events that are ordinary or of the everyday world
Domains of Sacred Consumption
Sacred Places
Sacred People
Sacred Events

9. Desacralization & Sacralization
A sacred item or symbol is removed from its special place, or is duplicated in mass quantities (Eiffel tower, Mona Lisa)
It becomes profane as a result
Sacralization
When ordinary objects, events or people take on sacred meaning to a culture or to specific groups within a culture
The Stanley Cup (hockey)
World Cup (soccer)
Confucius
Abraham Lincoln