Culture can be defined in many ways but generally refers to the shared ways of life of a group of people including their beliefs, values, attitudes, norms, knowledge and artifacts. Culture is complex, consisting of both explicit elements like language, dress and food that can be directly observed, as well as implicit elements like moral values and beliefs. Culture is learned and transmitted between generations, integrating both old and new elements. It influences all aspects of life and is characterized by ethnocentrism, though cultural relativism recognizes that no single culture is superior. A culture's tangible and intangible components like artifacts, sites and traditions may also represent its heritage over time.

1. ASPECTS OF CULTURE

2. THE COMPLEXITY OF CULTURE
• CULTURE
• - is a people's way of life
• •“That complex whole, which
encompasses beliefs, practices, values,
attitudes, laws, norms, artifacts, symbols,
knowledge, and everything that a
person learns and shares as a member
of society.”- E.B. Taylor

3. The WHAT, HOW
and WHY of
CULTURE
• •“What” contains the actions, artifacts,
language, and behavior that characterize a
given culture.
• •“How” identifies the processes that
guarantee the transmission and
dissemination of the content.
• •“Why” pinpoints the reasons why
individuals comply and the mechanisms
that facilitate the performance of expected
behavior

4. Enculturation and
Culture Shock

5. ENCULTURATION
• •refers to a gradual acquisition of
the characteristics and norms of a
culture or group by a person,
another culture, etc.
• •starts with actual exposure to
another culture and the duration
and extent of exposure account for
the quality of the resulting
enculturation.

6. CULTURE SHOCK
• Is a good example of enculturation
• Individuals who have stayed for
quite a good portion of their lives
especially after the formative years
in a foreign culture maybe shocked
by their birth culture once exposed
to it again
• The shock created by their birth
culture is a product of their
enculturation in the second culture

7. ASPECTS OF CULTURE

8. DEFINITIONS OF CULTURE
•“ THE HANDIWORK OF MAN AND THE MEDIUM THROUGH WHICH HE
ACHIEVES HIS ENDS.”- B. MALINOWSKI
•“AN ORGANIZED BODY OF CONVENTIONAL UNDERSTANDINGS
MANIFEST IN ART WHICH PERSISTING THROUGH TRADITION,
CHARACTERIZES A HUMAN GROUP”- R. REDFIELD
•“THE BODY OF THOUGHT AND KNOWLEDGE, BOTH
THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL, WHICH ONLY MAN CAN
POSSESS”- V. DE ROBERT

9. DEFINITIONS OF CULTURE
•“WAY OF LIFE”
•“DESIGNS FOR LIVING” •“A CULTURE IS A HISTORICALLY DERIVED
SYSTEM OF EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT DESIGNS
FOR LIVING, WHICH TENDS TO BE SHARED BY
ALL ESPECIALLY DESIGNED MEMBERS OF A
GROUP.”- KLUCKHOHN AND KELLY
A PEOPLE'S SHARED WAYS OF
DOING AND THINKING

10. Explicit Culture and Implicit Culture
EXPLICIT CULTURE
•Explicit Culture- Refers to
similarities in words and actions
which can be directly observed.
• EX:
• language
• dress
• food habits
• Religion
• behavior
IMPLICIT CULTURE
•Implicit Culture- exists in
abstract forms which are not
quite obvious.
• EX:
• Moral values
• Learning processes
• Beliefs and representations

12. Three Essences
of Culture as a
System
•Super- organic -Culture is seen as something superior to
nature because nature serves as the ingredient of any
cultural productions.
•Integrated - Culture’s various parts are integrated with
each other and any new element which is introduced is also
integrated. This integrity of the culture system makes it
pervasive.
•Pervasive - It touches every aspect of life and is
manifested in two ways. Culture provides an unquestioned
context within which individual action and response take
place. Culture pervades social activities and institutions.

13. CHARACTERISTICS
OF CULTURE
• 1.Culture is social because it is the
product of behavior.
• 2.Culture varies from society to
society.
• 3.Culture is shared.
• 4.Culture is learned.
• 5.Culture is transmitted among
members of society.
• 6.Culture is continuous and
cumulative.
• 7.Culture is gratifying and idealistic.

14. FUNCTIONS OF
CULTURE

15. FUNCTIONS
OF CULTURE
Culture
defines
situations.
•Culture
defines
attitudes,
values and
goals.
•Culture
defines myths,
legends, and
the
supernatural.
•Culture
provides
behavior
patterns.

16. ETHNOCENTRISM
• ETHNO –Greek word, which refers to people, nation or cultural grouping
• CENTRIC –Latin word, which refers to center
• ETHNOCENTRISM – refers to the tendency of each society to place its own
culture patterns at the center of things
• is the practice of comparing other cultural practices with those of one's own
and automatically finding those other cultural practices to be inferior.
• It is the act of evaluating other cultures according to
preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one's own culture

17. ETHNOCENTRISM
• -A term coined by William Graham Sumner
• A belief that your native culture is the most
natural or superior way of understanding the
world
• Is a universal human reaction found in all
known societies, in all groups and in
practically all individuals

18. FUNCTIONS OF
ETHNOCENTRISM
• 1. Ethnocentrism encourages
the solidarity of group.
• 2. Ethnocentrism hinders the
understanding or the
cooperation between groups.
• 3. Conflict of course leads to
social change.

19. Cultural relativism
• Is the idea that all norms, beliefs and values are
dependent on their cultural context and should
be treated as such
• Is a belief that maintains it does not matter
whether cultures are either equal or different
because equality and similarity do not
necessarily translate to real or imagined
inferiority/superiority of cultures out there
• Is also a research method whereby different
societies or cultures are analyzed objectively
without using the values of one culture to judge
the worth of another

20. ETHNOCENTRISM VS CULTURAL RELATIVISM
• Is judging other culture based on
the preconceptions originating in
the standards and customs of
one’s own culture
• Involves looking at another
culture from the perspective of
one’s own culture
• An ethnocentric individual will
believe that his culture is better,
‘correct’ and ‘normal’
• Is the notion that a culture should
be understood on its own terms,
not using standards of another
culture
• Involves looking at another
culture by its own perspective
instead of one’s own culture
• A person who believes in cultural
relativism understands that one
culture is not better than another

21. Xenocentrism and
Xenophobia
• XENOCENTRISM - refers to a
preference for the foreign
• - exact opposite of ethnocentrism
• XENOPHOBIA - is the fear of what
is perceived as foreign or strange
• - extreme dislike
or fear of foreigners, their customs,
their religions, etc.

22. CULTURE AS HERITAGE
• CULTURES have TANGIBLE AND NON-
TANGIBLE COMPONENTS.
• Cultural artifacts both tangible and
nontangible may become heritage objects
by their sheer age and association with
momentous historical events and
noteworthy personalities
• Ex:
• Sites and objects (flags)