What is Culture? Source: Spencer-Oatey, H. (2012) What is culture?

What is Culture? Source: Spencer-Oatey, H. (2012) What is culture? A compilation of quotations. GlobalPAD Core Concepts.

What is Culture? The beliefs and behaviors of a society – Abstract ideas, values, and perceptions of the world that inform and are reflected in behavior Culture is the lens through which we view our world, it “invents” our reality – How did the game “invent” your reality? Iceberg example

Culture is like an Iceberg

Culture is like an Iceberg

WHAT IS CULTURE? ‘Culture . is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.’ Tyler (Brit. anthropologist) 1870: 1; cited by Avruch 1998: 6 ‘Culture consists of the derivatives of experience, more or less organized, learned or created by the individuals of a population, including those images or encodements and their interpretations (meanings) transmitted from past generations, from contemporaries, or formed by individuals themselves.’ T.Schwartz 1992; cited by Avruch 1998: 17

WHAT IS CULTURE? ‘[Culture] is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another.’ Hofstede 1994: 5 ‘Culture is a fuzzy set of basic assumptions and values, orientations to life, beliefs, policies, procedures and behavioural conventions that are shared by a group of people, and that influence (but do not determine) each member’s behaviour and his/her interpretations of the ‘meaning’ of other people’s behaviour.’ Spencer-Oatey 2008: 3

Characteristics of Culture 1. Culture is manifested at different layers of depth: (a) observable artifacts, (b) values, (c) basic underlying assumptions Source: Spencer-Oatey, H. (2012) What is culture? A compilation of quotations. GlobalPAD Core Concepts.

Culture is Based on Symbols What are some symbols of U.S. pop culture? What do they mean?

Culture is Values What are some values (or conflict of values) we have in the USA? How do they guide behavior and life actions?

Culture is Underlying Assumptions What are some automatic assumptions you have When you see someone entering the building behind you? When you bump into someone at the grocery store? When you eat in a restaurant? When someone else is talking?

Characteristics of Culture 2. Culture affects behaviour and interpretations of behaviour Ex: The ‘ring gesture’ Source: Spencer-Oatey, H. (2012) What is culture? A compilation of quotations. GlobalPAD Core Concepts.

Characteristics of Culture Could language affect your ability to save? http://www.ted.com/talks/keith chen could yo ur language affect your ability to save mone y

Characteristics of Culture 3. Culture can be differentiated from both universal human nature and unique individual personality Source: Spencer-Oatey, H. (2012) What is culture? A compilation of quotations. GlobalPAD Core Concepts.

Characteristics of Culture 4. Culture influences biological processes What we eat, how often we eat, how much we eat, with whom we eat, and according to what set of rules are regulated, at least in part, by our culture. Source: Spencer-Oatey, H. (2012) What is culture? A compilation of quotations. GlobalPAD Core Concepts.

Characteristics of Culture 5. Culture is both an individual construct and a social construct culture is a derivative of individual experience, something learned or created by individuals themselves or passed on to them socially by contemporaries or ancestors. Think: Beyonce Lemonade what is its effect? Source: Spencer-Oatey, H. (2012) What is culture? A compilation of quotations. GlobalPAD Core Concepts.

Characteristics of Culture 6. Culture is learned through the process of “enculturation”. Source: Spencer-Oatey, H. (2012) What is culture? A compilation of quotations. GlobalPAD Core Concepts.

Characteristics of Culture 7. Culture is adaptive Source: Spencer-Oatey, H. (2012) What is culture? A compilation of quotations. GlobalPAD Core Concepts.

Characteristics of Culture 7. Culture is adaptive Process of Discovery & invention (1) it is seen as superior to what already exists; (2) it is consistent with existing cultural patterns; (3) it is easily understood; (4) it can be tested on an experimental basis; and (5) its benefits are clearly visible to a relatively large number of people. Source: Spencer-Oatey, H. (2012) What is culture? A compilation of quotations. GlobalPAD Core Concepts.

Characteristics of Culture 7. Culture is adaptive Process of Cultural Diffusion the spreading of cultural items from one culture to another “cultural borrowing” Source: Spencer-Oatey, H. (2012) What is culture? A compilation of quotations. GlobalPAD Core Concepts.

Characteristics of Culture 8. The various parts of a culture are all, to some degree, interrelated integrated. Source: Spencer-Oatey, H. (2012) What is culture? A compilation of quotations. GlobalPAD Core Concepts.

Inadequate Understandings of Culture Culture is homogenous. Culture is a thing. Culture is uniformly distributed among members of group. An individual possess but a single culture. Culture is custom. Culture is timeless. Source: Spencer-Oatey, H. (2012) What is culture? A compilation of quotations. GlobalPAD Core Concepts.

Review Different layers Affects behavior and interpretations Different from human nature and personality Influences biological processes Individually and socially constructed Learned through enculturation Adaptive Integrated

Review Different layers Affects behavior and interpretations Different from human nature and personality Influences biological processes Individually and socially constructed Learned through enculturation Adaptive Integrated

Review Different layers Affects behavior and interpretations Different from human nature and personality Influences biological processes Individually and socially constructed Learned through enculturation Adaptive Integrated

Review Different layers Affects behavior and interpretations Different from human nature and personality Influences biological processes Individually and socially constructed Learned through enculturation Adaptive Integrated

Review Different layers Affects behavior and interpretations Different from human nature and personality Influences biological processes Individually and socially constructed Learned through enculturation Adaptive Integrated

Review Different layers Affects behavior and interpretations Different from human nature and personality Influences biological processes Individually and socially constructed Learned through enculturation Adaptive Integrated

Review Different layers Affects behavior and interpretations Different from human nature and personality Influences biological processes Individually and socially constructed Learned through enculturation Adaptive Integrated

Review Different layers Affects behavior and interpretations Different from human nature and personality Influences biological processes Individually and socially constructed Learned through enculturation Adaptive Integrated