This document defines and provides examples of key elements of culture, including language, norms, folkways, mores, and values. It discusses how language lays the foundation for culture and shapes people's understanding of reality through concepts like the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Nonverbal communication is also culturally specific. Norms establish standards of behavior, folkways are general behavioral guidelines, and mores are strict moral rules. Values represent a culture's principles.

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CULTURE

2. ©Johan
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CULTURE
The totality of learned, socially
transmitted customs, knowledge,
material objects, and behavior including
the ideas, values, and artifacts of groups
of people.
Example:
DVDs, comic books, and birth control devices
Patriotic attachment to the flag of the United States
National passion for the tango in Argentina.

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4. ELEMENTS OF CULTURE

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ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
Languag
e
Norms
Folkway
s
Mores
Values

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LANGUAGE
A set of symbols and rules, when put
together in a meaningful way provides
a complex communication system
Written, oral or in form of gestures

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LANGUAGE
the foundation of every culture
Language
describe reality
shape the reality of a culture

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SAPIR-WHORF HYPOTHESIS
People can conceptualize the world only through
language, language precedes thought. Thus, the word
symbols and grammar of a language organize the
world for us.
Language is not a given. Rather, it is culturally
determined, and it encourages a distinctive
interpretation of reality by focusing our attention on
certain phenomena.

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SAPIR-WHORF HYPOTHESIS
Example:
For decades, the Navajo have referred to cancer as
lood doo na’dziihii which literally means “the sore that
does not heal”
Term such as mailman, policeman, or fireman, implies
that these occupations can be filled only by males.

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NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
The use of gestures, facial expressions, and other
visual images to communicate.
We learn them, just as we learn other forms of
language, from people who share our same culture

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NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
nonverbal communication is not the same in all
cultures
Saudi Arabia, a middle-
aged man may want to
hold hands with a partner
after closing a business
deal
In Egypt, men walk hand
in hand in the street; in
cafés, they fall asleep
while lounging in each
other’s arms.

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NORMS
The specific cultural expectations on how to
behave in a given situation
The established standards of behavior
maintained by a
society
Eating
behavi
or
Person
al
hygien
e

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FOLKWAYS
General standards of behavior adhered to
by a group
Table
manners
Appropriat
e dressing
for
occasions
Social
graces

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MORES
Strict norms that control moral
conduct
Legislated
laws
Religious
doctrines
Incestuous
relationshi
p as taboo

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VALUES
Abstract standards in a society or
group that define the ideal principles
Respec
t
Justice
Freedo
m
Honest
y

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