UNDERSTANDING THE SELF Culture as a whole, is a system of with many

CULTURE mutually interdependent parts.

JHASTINE MABABA | CLASS 2023
8. Culture gives a range of permissible behavior.
WHAT IS CULTURE  Every culture allows a range of ways in which
 Defined as the set of learned behaviors, beliefs; attitudes, men can be men and women can be women.
values, and ideals that are characteristics of a particular Culture also tells us how different activities should
society or population. (Ember, 1999) conducted, such as how one should act as a
 Is the learned norms, values, knowledge, artifacts, husband, wife, parent, child, etc.
language, and symbols that are constantly communicated
among people who share a common ritual and technology. COMPONENTS OF CULTURE
(Calhoun, et al., 1994) 1. COMMUNICATION
 Culture is the sum total of symbols, ideas, forms of  Language
expressions, and material products associated with a  symbols
collective way of life reflected in such things as beliefs, 2. COGNITIVE
values, music, literature, art, dance, science, religious ritual  Ideas
and technology. (Allan Johnson 1996)  Knowledge
 Culture as that complex whole which includes knowledge,  Beliefs
belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities
 Values
and habits acquired by man as a member of society.
 Accounts
(Panopio, 1992)
3. MATERIAL
 Tools medicines
CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
1. Culture is learned.  Books
 The first essential characteristics of culture is that  Transportation
it is learned.  Technologies
4. BEHAVIORAL
2. Culture is shared by a group of people.  Norms
 For a though or action to be considered cultural, it  Mores
must be commonly shared by some population or  Laws
group of individuals.  Folkways
 Rituals
3. Culture is cumulative.
 Knowledge is stored and passed on from one A. COMMUNICATION COMPONENT
generation to the next, and new knowledge is 1. Language
being added to what is existing.  Perhaps more than anything else, language defines what it
means to be human. It forms the core of all culture. When
4. Culture change. people share a language, they share a condensed, very
 All cultural knowledge does not perpetually flexible set of symbols and meanings.
accumulated. At the same time that new cultural
traits are added, some old ones are lost because 2. Symbols
they are no longer useful.  Along with language and non-verbal signals, symbols form
the backbone of symbolic interaction. They condense very
5. Culture is dynamic. complex ideas and values into simple material forms so that
 This is a characteristic of culture that stems from the very presence of the symbols evokes the signified ideas
is cumulative quality. No culture is ever in a and values.
permanent state. It is constantly changing because
new ideas and new techniques are added and old B. COGNITIVE COMPONENT
ways are constantly modified discarded. 1. Ideas
 Are mental representative (concept, categories, metaphors)
organize stimulus, they are the basic units of which
6. Culture is ideational. knowledge is constructed and a world emerges.
 Culture is an ideal pattern of behavior which the
members are expected to follow. Man assigns 2. Knowledge
meanings to his environment and experiences by  is the storehouse where accumulate representations,
symbolizing them. information, facts, assumption, etc. once stored, knowledge
can support learning and can be passed down from one
7. Culture is diverse. generation to the next.
 the sum total of human culture consists of a great
many separate cultures, each of them is different. 3. Beliefs

Jhastine Mababa | Class of 2023

  accept a proposition, statement, description of the fact, etc., Cluster of culture traits are known as culture complexes which, in
as a true turn, group together to form a culture pattern.

4. Values Culture is transmitted through:

 are defined as culturally defined standards of desirability 1. Enculturation
goodness and beauty, which serve as broad guidelines for  It is the process of learning culture of one’s own group.
social living.
2. Acculturation
5. Accounts  It is the process of learning some new traits from another
 people who share a common language for talking about culture.
their inner selves.
3. Assimilation
C. BEHAVIORAL COMPONENTS (How we act)  It is the term used for a process in which an individual
1. Norms entirely loses any awareness of his/her previous group
 are rules and expectations by which a society guides the identity and takes on the culture and attitudes of another
behavior of its members. Norms can change over time, as group.
illustrated by norms regarding sexual behavior. Norms may
vary in terms of their degree of importance. IMPORTANCE AND FUNCTIONS OF CULTURE
1. Culture helps the individual fulfill his potential as a human
Types of norms: being.
MORES They are customary behavior patters or folkways 2. Through the development of culture, man can overcome his
which have taken on a moralistic value. This physical disadvantages and allows him to provide himself
includes respect for authority, marriage and sex with fire, clothing, food and shelter.
behavior patterns, religious rituals, and other codes 3. Culture provides rules of proper conduct for living in a
of human behavior. society.
LAWS Laws constitute the most formal and important
norms. Laws are the mores deemed so vital to
dominant interests that they become translated into
legal formalizations that even nonmembers of
society are required to obey.
FOLWAY These are behavior patterns of society which are
S organized and repetitive. The key feature of all
folkways is that there is no strong feeling of right or
wrong attached to them. They are simply the way
the people usually do things.
RITUALS These are highly scripted ceremonies or strips of
interaction that a follow a specific sequence of
actions.

Examples:
 Ceremonies: graduation, baptism, funerals, weddings,
birthdays
 Holidays: thanksgiving, Christmas
 Every day public rituals: greeting, kissing, answering the
telephones, birthday and cards

D. MATERIAL COMPONENT
Human make objects, sometimes for practical reasons and
sometimes for artistic ones. Material components of culture refer to
physical objects of culture such as machines, equipment, tools, books,
clothing, etc.

THE ORGANIZATION OF CULTURE

A cultural trait, either of a material or non-material culture,
represents a single element or a combination of elements related to a
specific situation.

Example of cultural traits:

 Kissing the hands of the elders after Sunday mass and
Angelus

Jhastine Mababa | Class of 2023