Sociology 2

the language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviors, and even material objects that characterize a group and are passed from one generation to the next.

the material objects that distinguish a group of people, such as their art, buildings, weapons, utensils, machines, hairstyles, clothing, and jewelry.

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).

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.

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.

not judging a culture but trying to understand it on its own terms.

another term for nonmaterial culture.

something to which people attach meanings and then use to communicate with others.

the ways in which people use their bodies to communicate with one another.

a system of symbols that can be combined in an infinite number of ways and can represent not only objects but also abstract thought

Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf’s hypothesis that language creates ways of thinking and perceiving.

the standards by which people define what is desirable or undesirable, good or bad, beautiful or ugly.

expectations, or rules of behavior, that reflect and enforce behavior

either expressions of approval given to people for upholding norms or expressions of disapproval for violating them.

norms that are not strictly enforced.

norms that are strictly enforced because they are though essential to core values or to the well-being of the group.

a norm so strong that it brings extreme sanctions and even revulsion if someone violates it.

the values and related behaviors of a group that distinguish its members from the larger culture; a world within a world.

a group whose values, beliefs, norms, and related behaviors place its members in opposition to the broader culture.

a society made up of many different groups, with contrasting values and orientations to life.

values that together form a larger whole.

values that contradict one another; to follow the one means to come into conflict with the other.

a people’s ideal values and norms; the goals held out for them.

the norms and values that people actually follow.

a value, norm, or other cultural trait that is found in every group.

a framework of thought that views human behavior as the result of natural selection and considers biological factors to be the fundamental cause of human behavior.

in its narrow sense, tools; its broader sense includes the skills or procedures necessary to make and use those tools.

the emerging technologies of an era that have a significant impact on social life.

Ogburn’s term for human behavior lagging behind technological innovations.

the spread of cultural traits from one group to another; includes both material and nonmaterial cultural traits.

the process by which cultures become similar to one another; refers especially to the process by which Western culture is being exported and diffused into other nations.