cross cultural understanding

1. What is Culture
Meeting 1 - 2

2. Cultural Patterns of behavior
Originate in the human mind
Facilitate human and environmental
interaction
Satisfy basic human needs
Cumulative and adjust to changes in
external and internal conditions
Form a consistent structure
Learned and shared by all members of the
society
Transmitted to new generations

3. The Explicit and Implicit Culture

4. The Explicit and Implicit Culture

5. Cultural Beliefs
Ideas
Knowledge
Lore
Superstitions
Myths
Legends

6. Cultural values
A value is an especially important class
of beliefs shared by the members of a
society or by typical occupants of all the
various positions in the society,
concerning what is “good” or what ought
to be.
Values are both positive and negative;
the positive values are the “desirables”,
the negative values, the “undesirables”

7. Cultural Norms
When conformity to them is
not considered vital to the
welfare of the group and
when the means of
enforcing conformity is not
very clearly defined
Specify behavior of vital
importance to the society
and which embody its basic
moral values, actively
enforced by the member of
society either through legal
action or social sanction

8. Cultural Norms

9. Institutionalized Ways
Organized into larger patterns which are well-established
and accepted as a fundamental part of culture

10. Institutionalized Ways
Represent a
society’s
solution to
one of the
main
problems of
living

11. Institutionalized Ways

12. Individual and Culture
http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/-dont-greet-indian-
women-with-kiss-say-namaste-/490298/

13. Individual and Culture

14. Does this picture offend you?

15. If so, then you may be guilty of
Ethnocentrism!
People who are ethnocentric apply
their own values in judging the
behavior and beliefs of other people
raised in other cultures.
Ethnocentrism contributes to social
solidarity and a sense of value and
community.
However, it also fuels conflict.

16. Culture is learned behavior
Each child goes
through a process of
enculturation when
they grow up in a
culture.
Children learn by
observing the
behaviors of people in
their surroundings,
including the
recognition of
symbols specific to
that culture.

17. Examples of cultural symbols

18. Culture is shared
Culture is an attribute not of
individuals per se but of individuals as
members of groups.
Culture is transmitted by society.
Enculturation unifies people by
providing us with common
experiences.

19. Culture is symbolic
Symbols can either
be verbal
(linguistic) or
nonverbal (object,
written symbol).

20. Culture and Nature: Differences in
How we meet the call
Culture defines what
people eat, how food
is prepared, and when
and how food is eaten.
Waste elimination is
culturally prescribed.
Sexual activities are
also dictated by
culture (with who,
how, where, and
when).

21. Culture is all-encompassing and
integrated
Culture envelopes each of us, and
touches every aspect of our lives.
Culture is systematic and integrated
(it is not a random phenomenon).
Cultures teach us to share certain
core values that helps shape the
personality of the individuals within a
culture.

22. Cultures are dynamic: rules are
made to be broken
Humans are creative animals and
always do not strictly follow the
dictates of their culture.
There is individual interpretation of
each aspect of culture that is in part
due to family and personal history.
Real vs. Ideal culture.

23. Culture can be both adaptive and
maladaptive
Modern technology
has provided for the
adaptation of humans
to every part of the
globe, as ancient
technologies provided
successful to
environments on a
smaller scale.
Short-term vs. long-
term adaptive
strategies.

24. Levels of culture
National: learned behavioral
patterns, beliefs, values, and
institutions shared by the citizens of a
nation.
International: cultural traditions that
expand beyond cultural boundaries.
Subculture: different traditions
practiced by groups set within a larger
culture. Frequently regionally based.

25. Ethnocentrism, Cultural Relativism,
and Human Rights
The “human rights”
movement suggests
that there is a realm of
justice and morality
that supercedes the
practices of many
cultures.
Examples: female
genital mutilation in
the Middle East; male
circumcision at birth in
the United States.

26. Universality, Generality, and
Particularity
Universal: found in all cultures.
Examples: Exogamy and incest
taboo.
Generality: found in many cultures,
but not all. Example: nuclear family.
Particularities: found only in some
cultures. Example: head hunting.

27. What makes cultures change?
Diffusion: borrowing of traits
between cultures.
Acculturation: exchange of cultural
features that results from long-term
exposure between cultures.
Independent invention: Developing
to solution to problems by individual
cultures. Example: agriculture.

28. One World Culture? Globalization
in the 21st
Century
Cultures are increasingly coming in
contact as a result of improved trade
relations, better communication, and
easier travel.
Multinational corporations and
business “outsourcing” to the Third
World are becoming more
commonplace.