This document discusses the concepts of cultural lag, cultural inertia, and cultural diffusion. It defines cultural lag as occurring when material culture changes more rapidly than non-material culture, creating issues. Cultural inertia refers to resisting cultural changes even when better options exist. Cultural diffusion is the spread of cultural elements between societies through contact and interaction over time. The document provides examples and analysis of each concept.

1. CSI COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
PARASSALA
EDU.01: KNOWLEDGE AND CURRICULUM: PHILOSOPHICAL
AND SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
ASSIGNMENT
TOPIC: CULTURAL LAG, CULTURAL INERTIA AND CULTURAL
DIFFUSION
SUBMITTED BY
LUDIYA STANLY S.G
B.ED SOCIAL SCIENCE
ROLL NO 47

2. INTRODUCTION
Culture is the way of life of people.The word “culture” is
derived from the Latin word”cultura” means “to
cultivate”(to cultivate goodmanners and habits). Culture
is that complex whole which includes knowledge ,belief,
arts, morals, law ,custom and any other capabilities and
habits acquired by man as a member of the society.
Culture is the system of knowledgesharedby a relatively
large group of people. Culture in it’s broadest sense is
cultivated behaviour, that is the totality of a person’s
learned, accumulated experience which is socially
transmitted or more briefly, behaviour through social
learning. It is a collective programming of the mind that
distinguishes the members of one group or category of
people from another.

3. CULTURAL LAG
The term “ cultural lag” was coined by the US Sociologist
and Educator William Ogburn in 1922. It refers to the
imbalance in the culture of a societydue to differentrate
of changes happening in the material and non-material
aspects of the culture. Ogburn has divided culture into
two parts namely- material and non-material culture.
Material culture include economic, technical, industrial,
tools, utensils, machines, science, means of transport
.Non -material culture include belief, practice, customs,
traditions,morals,values,institutionlikefamily,religion,
education etc… He used cultural lag to describe the gap
between material culture and non-material culture.
Cultural lag occurs when one phase of culture changes
more rapidly from another phase. According to Ogburn,
cultural lag is acommonsocietalphenomenondue to the
tendency of material culture to evolve and change
rapidly and voluminously while non-material culture
tends to resist change and remain fixed for a far longer
period of time. Cultural lag causes social problems and
cultural conflicts. Education is the only means to bridge
the gap between material culture and non-material
culture through consciously planned curricular and co-

4. curricular activities.Eg:Differingattitude found in various
groups about jobs that are suitable for women, people
refer to check the horoscopes for marriage rather than
checking the health status of the people. Proper well
planned education should be given to remove the
cultural lag.
WORKS ON CULTURAL LAG
“SOCIAL CHANGE WITH RESPECT TO NATURE AND
ORIGINAL CHANGE” (1922)BY WILLIAM.F.OGBURN
Social Change With Respect To Nature And Original
Change is a 1922 work by Ogburn. This work was
crucial in drawing attention to issues with social
changes and responses.In this workhe firstcoinedthe
term ‘cultural lag’ to describe a lag between material
and non-material culture. Ogburn states that there is a
gap between traditional cultural values and the
technical realities in the world. This work was
innovative at the time of its release and brought light
to the issues of “ cultural lag” and the possible
solutions that could fix these issues. This was not the
first time these issues have been looked at, but this is
the first time that real solutions were presented.

5. Ogburn theory was not widely accepted at firstdue to
people having different interpretation of the work. In
the book he also details the four factors of technical
development, which are: invention, accumulation,
diffusion and adjustment. In work he suggest that
primary engine of change and progress is technology,
but that it is tempered by social responses. The book
mixed response due to the fact that many interpreted
his findings in many differentways.
ON CULTURE AND CHANGE (1964)
On Culture And Change is a work by William
.F.Ogburn which is a collectionof 25 works fromthe
years 1912-1961 .It is an examination of social
change and culture from the perspective of a
Sociologists .The 25 topics discussed in the workare
separated into 4 topics: social evolution, social
trends, short-run changes and the subjective in the
social Sciences. This collection of works examines
culture and social change in the world. The findings
and informationinOn Culture And Change continues
to be influential and useful to this day.
“CULTURAL LAG: CONCEPTION AND THEORY” (1997) BY
RICHARD.L.BRINKMAN, JUNE.E.BRINKMAN.

6. In Cultural Lag: Conception And Theory, Richard and
June Brinkman go into what the theory and concept of
cultural lag actually is. They go into detail about the
points supporting and the points disputing the concept
of cultural lag . They evaluate Ogburn’s claims about
cultural lag and make them more understandable . The
workevaluates the existenceof cultural lag and its ability
to possibly predict and describe cultural Change in
society. The work also goes into the relevance of the
concept of cultural lag to socio-economicpolicies in the
world.
PROBLEMS WITH CULTURAL LAG
Cultural lag creates problems for a society in a
multitude of ways. The issue of cultural lag tends to
permeateany discussionin which the implementationof
some new technology is a topic. For eg, the advent of
stem cell research has given rise to many new,
potentially beneficial medical technologies; however
these new technologies have also raised serious ethical
questions about the use of stem cells in medicine. In this
examplethe cultural lag is the fearofpeopleto use a new
possibly beneficial medical practices because of ethical
issues. This shows that there really is a disconnect

7. between material culture (stem cell research) and non-
material culture (issues with ethics).
CULTURAL INERTIA
The term ‘ Cultural Inertia' was coined by Psychologist
Michael Zarate. It refers to the desire to avoid cultural
changes and to cling to traditions and ways of thinking
that have outlived their usefulness even when better
ways are presented. It is the resistance to change. Eg:
resistance to use computers in offices when they were
introduced. Also it is a reaction to social change such as
those caused by cultural inertia also desire for change to
continue once it is already occurring. Within the cultural
inertia framework, the dominant group is stable and
resists cultural change, while subordinate groups desire
cultural changes which incorporate their cultural
traditions so that they don’t have to assimilate into the
dominant culture.In the context of the UnitedStates and
immigration, the framework suggests that white
majority members resist the cultural change that occurs
from immigration, while immigrant groups try to enact
change inUS culture.“ Cultural Inertiais the tendency for
a group of people to cling to traditions and ways of

8. thinking that have outlived their usefulness even when
better ways are presented.”
CULTURAL DIFFUSION
Cultural diffusion is the process through which the
ideas,beliefs,practices,foodhabits, art, literature etc.of
a particular culture are spread(diffused) throughan area
beyond the culture who came up with the idea. Eg:
spread of Christianity, Buddhism, different languages,
food habits etc. Cultural diffusion can be seen in many
different cultures throughout the world. Things that are
spread through diffusioninclude ideas, values,concepts,
knowledge, practices, behaviours, materials and
symbols.
The study of cultural diffusion was pioneered by
anthropologists. Edward Tylor, a British anthropologist
who wrote during the mid-19th
C, posed the theory of
cultural diffusionas an alternative to using the theory of
cultural evolution to explain cultural similarities.
Following the Tylor, the German- American
anthropologistFranz Boas developeda theoryof cultural
diffusion for explaining how the process works among
areas that are close to each other. These scholars
observedthat cultural diffusionhappens when societies

9. that have different ways of life come into contact with
each other and that as they interact more and more, the
rate of cultural diffusionbetween them increases.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF CULTURAL
DIFFUSION
1.The society/ social group that borrows elements
from another will alter/ adapt those elements to fit
within their own culture.
2.Typically,it is only elements of a foreignculture that
fit into the already existing belief systemof the host
culture that will be borrowed.
3.Those cultural elements that do not fit within the
host culture’s existing belief system will be rejected
by members of the social group.
4.Cultural elements will only be accepted within the
host culture if they are useful within it.
5.Social groups that borrow cultural elements are
more likely to borrowagain in the future.

10. CONCLUSION
Cultural lag is seen as a critical ethical issue because
failureto developbroad social consensus an appropriate
uses of modern technology may lead to breakdown in
social solidarity and the rise of social conflict. Cultural
inertia causes differential preferences for cultural
change as a function of the extend to which people
identity with a cultural group, their sense of esteem for
a cultural group and the perception that a culture is ( or
is not) already changing. Cultural diffusion has lead to
enrichment of cultures. Similarly, cultural diffusion
enhances peace by improving, understanding and
interaction between people. On the other hand cultural
diffusionhas led to loss of some ancient items and ways
of life.

11. REFERENCES
 “ Teaching And Research Aptitude”
-Dr.K.Kautilya
 http://people.tamu.edu/%20i-
choudhury/culture.html
 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/cultural-
lag
 https://www.thoughtco.com/cultural-
diffusion-definition