culture

the way of life of a people; more specifically, the human created straegies for adjusting to the environment and to those creatures (including humans) that are part of that environment

society

a group of interacting peopel who share, perpetuate, and create culture

material culture

all the natural and human-created objects to which people have attached meaning

nonmaterial culture

intangible human creations, which we cannot identify directly through the senses

beliefs

conceptions that people accept as true, concerning how the world operates and where the individual fits in relationships to others

values

general, shared conceptions of what si good, right, appropriate, worthwhile, and important with regard to conduct, appearance, and states of being

Norms

written and unwritten rules that specify behaviors appropriate and inappropriate to a particular social situation

folkways

norms that apply to the mundane aspects or details of daily life

Mores

norms that people define as critical to th well being of a group. violation of mores can result in severe forms of punishment

symbols

any kind of physical or conceptual phenomenon- a word, an object, a sound, a feeling, an odor, a gesture or bodily movement, or a concept of time-to which people assign a name and a meaning or value

language

a symol system involving the use of sounds, gestures (signing) and or hcaracters (such as letters or pictures) to convey meaning

languistic relativity hypothesis

the idea that "no two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. the worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached

social emotions

internal bodily sensations that we experience in relationships with other people

feelings rules

norms that specify appropriate ways to express internal sensations

diffusion

the process by which an idea, an vention, or some other cultural item is borrowed from a foreign source

reentry stock

culture shock in reverse; it is experienced upon returning home after living in another culture

ethnocentrism

a viewpoint that uses one culture, usually the home culture, as the standard for judging the worth of the foreign ways,

cultural genocide

an extreme form of ethnocentrism in which the people of one society define the culture of another society not as merely offensive, but as so intolerable that they attempt to destroy it

reverse ethnocentrism

a type of ethnocentrism in which the home culture is regarded as inferior to a foreign culture

cultural relativism

the perspective that a foreign culture should not be judged by the standards of a home culture and that a behavior of way of thinking must be examined in its cultural context

subcultures

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subcultures

groups that share in some parts of there dominant culture but have their own distinctive values, norms, beliefs, symbols, language, or material culture

institutionally complete subcultures

subcultures whose members do no interact with anyone outside their subculture to shop for food, atend school, recieve medical care, or find companionship because the subsculture satisfies these needs

countercultures

subcultures in which the norms, values, beliefs, symbols, and language the members share emphasize conflict or opposition to the larger culture. in fact, rejection of the dominant cultures values, norms, symbols, and beliefs is central to understanding a counterculture