core values
the values that are central to a group, those around which it builds a common identity (49)
counterculture
a group whose values, beliefs, and related behaviors place its members in opposition to the values of the broader culture (48)
cultural diffusion
the spread of cultural characteristics from one group to another (57)
cultural lag
William Ogburn's term for human behavior lagging behind technological innovations (57)
cultural leveling
the process by which cultures become similar to one another, and especially by which Western industrial culture is imported and diffused into industrializing nations (58)
cultural relativism
not judging a culture, but trying to understand it on its own terms (38)
cultural universal
a value, norm, or other cultural trait that is found in every group (55)
culture
: the language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviors, and even material objects that are passed from one generation to the next (36)
culture shock
the disorientation that people experience when they come in contact with a fundamentally different culture and can no longer depend on their taken-for-granted assumptions about life (37)
ethnocentrism
the use of one's own culture as a yardstick for judging the ways of other individuals or societies, generally leading to a negative evaluation of their values, norms, and behaviors (37)
folkways
norms that are not strictly enforced (47)
gestures
the ways in which people use their bodies to communicate with one another (39
ideal culture
the ideal values and norms of a people, the goals held out for them (54)
language
a system of symbols that can be combined in an infinite number of ways and can represent not only objects but also abstract thought (43)
material culture
the material objects that distinguish a group of people, such as their art, buildings, weapons, utensils, machines, hairstyles, clothing, and jewelry (36)
mores
norms that are strictly enforced because they are thought essential to core values (47)
negative sanction
an expression of disapproval for breaking a norm, ranging from a mild, informal reaction such as a frown to a formal prison sentence or an execution (45)
new technology
the emerging technologies of an era that have a significant impact on social life (56)
nonmaterial culture
a group's ways of thinking (including its beliefs, values, and other assumptions about the world) and doing (its common patterns of behavior, including language and other forms of interaction) (36)
norms
the expectations, or rules of behavior, that reflect and enforce behavior (45)
pluralistic society
a society made up of many different groups (49)
positive sanction
a reward given for following norms, ranging from a smile to a prize (45)
real culture
the norms and values that people actually follow (54)
sanctions
expressions of approval or disapproval given to people for upholding or violating norms (45)
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf's hypothesis that language creates ways of thinking and perceiving (45)
sociobiology
a framework of thought that views human behavior as the result of natural selection and considers biological characteristics to be the fundamental cause of human behavior (55)
subculture
the values and related behaviors of a group that distinguish its members from the larger culture; a world within a world (48)
symbol
something to which people attach meaning and then use to communicate with others (39)
symbolic culture
another term for nonmaterial culture (39)
taboo
a norm so strong that it brings revulsion if it is violated (47)
technology
in its narrow sense, tools; its broader sense includes the skills or procedures necessary to make and use those tools (56)
value cluster
a series of interrelated values that together form a larger whole (52)
value contradictions
values that contradict with one another; to follow the one means to come into conflict with the other (53)
values
the standards by which people define what is desirable or undesirable, good or bad, beautiful or ugly (45)
Charles Darwin
Darwin studied the principles on which natural selection occurred. (55)
Robert Edgerton
Edgerton attacks the concept of cultural relativism, suggesting that because some cultures endanger their people's health, happiness, or survival, there should be a scale to evaluate cultures on their "quality of life." (39, 57)
George Murdock
Murdock was an anthropologist who sought to determine which cultural values, norms, or traits, if any, were found universally across the globe. (55)
William Ogburn
Ogburn coined the term "cultural lag." (57)
Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf
These two anthropologists argued that language not only reflects thoughts and perceptions but that it actually shapes the way people think and perceive the world. (44-45)
William Sumner
Sumner developed the concept of ethnocentrism. (37)
Robin Williams
He identified ten core U.S. values. (49, 52)
Edward Wilson
Wilson is an insect specialist who claims that human behavior is also the result of natural selection. (56)
Eviatar Zerubavel
This sociologist offers an example of how language shapes our perceptions of the world (the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis). He notes that in his native Hebrew, there is no distinction made between the two forms of fruit spread�jams and jellies. It was only when