Characteristics of Culture
There are several important characteristics of
culture. The main ones are
these: (1) A culture satisfies human needs in particular
ways. (2) A
culture is acquired through learning. (3) A culture is
based on the use of
symbols. (4) A culture consists of individual traits
and groups of traits
called patterns.
Satisfying basic needs. All cultures serve to meet the
basic needs
shared by human beings. For example, every culture has
methods of
obtaining food and shelter. Every culture also has
family relationships,
economic and governmental systems, religious
practices, and forms of
artistic expression.
Each culture shapes the way its members satisfy human
needs. Human
beings have to eat, but their culture teaches them
what, when, and how
to eat. For example, many British people eat smoked
fish for breakfast,
but many Americans prefer cold cereals. In the
Midwestern United States,
people generally eat dinner at 5 or 6 p.m. However,
most Spaniards dine
at 10 p.m. Many Turks prefer strong coffee with the
grounds left in the
cup, but most Australians filter out the grounds for a
weaker brew. Many
Japanese eat their meals from low tables while sitting
on mats on the
floor. Canadians usually sit on chairs at higher
tables.
Learning. Culture is acquired through learning, not
through biological
inheritance. That is, no person is born with a
culture. Children take on the
culture in which they are raised through
enculturation.
Children learn much of their culture through imitation
and experience.
They also acquire culture through observation, paying
attention to what
goes on around them and seeing examples of what their
society considers
right and wrong. Children also may absorb certain
aspects of culture
unconsciously. For example, Arabs tend to stand closer
together when
speaking to one another than most Europeans do. No one
instructs them
to do so, but they learn the behavior as part of their
culture.
Children also learn their culture by being told what
to do. For example, a
parent tells a son or daughter, "Say thank
you" or "Don't talk to
strangers." Individual members of a particular
culture also share many
memories, beliefs, values, expectations, and ways of
thinking. In fact,
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most cultural learning results from verbal
communication. Culture is
passed from generation to generation chiefly through
language.
Using symbols. Cultural learning is based on the
ability to use symbols.
A symbol is something that stands for something else.
The most important
types of symbols are the words of a language. There is
no obvious or
necessary connection between a symbol and what it
stands for. The
English word dog is a symbol for a specific animal
that barks. But other
cultures have a different word that stands for the
same animal-the French
word chien, for example, or the Swahili word mbwa.
There are many other kinds of symbols besides the
words in a language. A
flag, for example, stands for a country. Colors have
symbolic meaning,
and the meanings vary from culture to culture. For
Chinese people, white
is a color of mourning. In Western societies, black is
the color of
mourning. White is a symbol of purity, and brides wear
white. All human
societies use symbols to create and maintain culture.
Forming patterns. Cultures are made up of individual
elements called
cultural traits. A group of related traits is a
cultural pattern.
Cultural traits may be divided into material culture
and nonmaterial
culture. Material culture consists of all the things
that are made by the
members of a society. It includes such objects as
buildings, jewelry,
machines, and paintings. Nonmaterial culture refers to
a society's
behaviors and beliefs. A handshake, a marriage
ceremony, and a system
of justice are examples of nonmaterial culture.
Cultural patterns may include numerous traits, both
material and
nonmaterial. The pattern for agriculture, for example,
includes the time
when crops are harvested (nonmaterial), the methods
(nonmaterial) and
machinery (material) used in harvesting, and the
structures for storing the
crops (material).
Most traits that make up a cultural pattern are
connected to one another.
If one custom, institution, or value that helps form a
cultural pattern
changes, other parts of the pattern will probably
change, too. For
example, until the 1950's, the career pattern for most
women in Western
societies was to work full-time as homemakers and
mothers. By the late
1900's, the pattern was for most women to get jobs
outside the home. As
part of the new pattern, attitudes about marriage,
family, and children
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also changed. The new pattern includes marriage at a
later age than ever
before, a dependence on alternative child-care
systems, and more
frequent divorce.
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