1. Sociology Chapter 2
Cultural Diversity
Preview
Section 1: The Meaning of Culture
Section 2: Cultural Variation
Chapter Wrap-Up
2. Sociology Chapter 2
Read to Discover
• What is the meaning of the term
culture, and how do material culture
and nonmaterial culture differ?
• What are the basic components of
culture?
Section 1: The Meaning of Culture
3. Sociology Chapter 2
Culture consists of all the shared products
of human groups which include physical
objects, beliefs, values, and behaviors
shared by a group.
Section 1: The Meaning of Culture
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CULTURE
All the shared products of
human groups
MATERIAL CULTURE
Physical objects that
people create and use
Examples
Automobiles, books, buildings,
clothing, computers
Examples
Beliefs, family patterns, ideas,
language, political and
economic systems, rules
NONMATERIAL
CULTURE
Abstract human creations
Section 1: The Meaning of Culture
8. Sociology Chapter 2
Basic Components of Culture
• Technology—
physical objects and
rules for using them
• Symbols—anything
that represents
something else and
has a shared meaning
Section 1: The Meaning of Culture
9. Sociology Chapter 2
Basic Components of Culture
• Language—the
organization of written or
spoken symbols into a
standardized system
Section 1: The Meaning of Culture
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Basic Components of Culture
• Values—
shared beliefs
about what is
good or bad,
right or wrong
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Levels of Culture
• Culture trait—individual tool, act, or belief that
is related to a particular situation or need
• Culture complex—cluster of interrelated traits
• Culture pattern—combination of a number of
culture complexes into an interrelated whole
Section 1: The Meaning of Culture
13. Sociology Chapter 2
Read to Discover
• What are cultural universals, and why do
they exist?
• What do the terms ethnocentrism and
cultural relativism mean?
• What factors account for variations among
and within cultures?
Section 2: Cultural Variation
14. Sociology Chapter 2
• Cultural universals—general features
common to all cultures, such as
cooking, dancing, and medicine
• ALL societies must develop certain
features to ensure their fulfillment.
Section 2: Cultural Variation
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• Ethnocentrism—tendency to view one’s
own culture and group as superior
to other different cultures
Section 2: Cultural Variation
Ethno= people, ethnic group
centrism= centered
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• Cultural Relativism—belief that a culture
should be judged by its own standards
rather than by those of another culture
Section 2: Cultural Variation
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• Subculture—group
within a society
which shares
values, norms, and
behaviors that are
not shared by the
entire population
Section 2: Cultural Variation
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• Counterculture—
subculture which rejects
the major
values, norms, and
practices of the larger
society and replaces
them with a new set of
cultural values
Section 2: Cultural Variation
24. Sociology Chapter 2
1. List five examples of material culture and five examples of
nonmaterial culture.
2. What is language, and why is it such an important part of culture?
3. How do folkways, mores, and laws differ? List three examples of
each type of norm.
4. How do cultural traits, cultural complexes, and cultural patterns
differ?
5. How did Margaret Mead contribute to the study of cultures?
6. What is ethnocentrism? How does it differ from cultural relativism?
7. How are subcultures and countercultures related?
Chapter Wrap-Up Understanding Main Ideas
