What is Culture?

1. What is Culture? Prof. Ceyhan ALDEMIR

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS I-DEFINITIONS II-LAYERS OF CULTURE III-DESCRIPTION OF LAYERS A-BASIC ASSUMPTIONS B-NORMS, MORES, FOLKWAYS, VALUES C-ARTIFACTS AND PRODUCTS IV-RELEVANT DEFINITIONS (A GLOSSARY) V-HOW DO WE STUDY CULTURE VI-A FRAMEWORK ABOUT THE EVOLUTION AND STABILIZING FACTORS OF CULTURES

3. Definitions of Culture Sociologically, culture is the values, beliefs and material objects that together form a people’s way of life (Macionis, 2005; pg. 59). According to cross-cultural management; culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the member of one human group from another (Hofstede, 1981; pg. 21). Anthropologically, culture consists in patterned ways of thinking, feeling and reacting, acquired and transmitted mainly by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e. Historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values. (Kluckhohn, 1951; pg. 85-86).

4. LAYERS OF CULTURE CULTURE AS AN ONION RING CULTURE AS AN ICEBERG Artifacts & Products Visible Part Norms & Mores Values Immersed Part Basic Assumptions

5. HOW DO WE STUDY CULTURE LEVELS OF HUMAN MENTAL PROGRAMMING Both learned & inherited- truly unique Individual Learned &shared by some- Language, deference, social distance, rituals, ceremonies, etc. Mostly symbols- Anthropology Collective Inherited, biological The least unique, shared by all (laughing, weeping, aggresiveness) Subject: ethologists (biologists specialized in animal behavior) Universal

6. DESCRIPTION OF LAYERS BASIC ASSUMPTIONS: The assumption or beliefs about truth/false. e.g. “Time is money” or “Humans control the nature” are not facts, they are assumptions or beliefs. NORMS: They refer to what is considered right, appropriate and acceptable by the cultural group. Mores/taboos; are norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance. e.g.society’s prohibition against adults engaging in sexual relations with children (right & wrong). Folkways; are norms for routine or casual interactions. e.g. Appropriate dressing and greetings. (right & rude). Coming to a formal dinner without a tie is a folkways mistake, coming to a formal dinner just with a tie is a mores mistake.

7. DESCRIPTION OF LAYERS Proscriptive norms are rules and expectations, by which a society guides the behavior of its members that states what we should not do. e.g. Health officials’ warning about casual sex. On the other hand, prescriptive norms state what we should do. e.g.: Being respectful to elders. C) Artifacts & Products: They are the visible manifestations of a culture and all observable behaviors belong to this layer. e.g. language, food, fashion, architecture, etiquette, religion,etc.

8. DESCRIPTION OF LAYERS D) VALUES: They refer to what is important for the members of a particular group (Rosinski, 2004;pg. 25). In other words; values, consist a broad tendency to prefer certain states of affairs than others (Hofstede,1981;pg. 18). - Values make up the most central element of culture that has intimate links with all aspects of behavior. - Values are mutually related and form value systems or hierarchies. Value systems may not be harmonious, many individiuals hold conflicting values. - Values are programmed early in life, thus they are irrational.

9. Definitions of Values There are five features that are common in all value definitions, they; 1) are concepts or beliefs 2) are desirable ends, states or behaviors 3) transcend from the past 4) guide selection or evaluation of behavior or events 5) are ordered by relative importance

10. DESCRIPTION OF LAYERS D) VALUES(continued): 1) They are central to any analysis of culture 2) Origins; right from the childhood, families, friends,schools, religious organizations, foreigners like immigrants, mass media etc. Mostly learned collectivity, but individuals may also have their own values. 3) Characteristics of values; a)intensity; the more a value is relevant, the more its intensity is. (Money’s importance) b) direction; identifying certain outcomes as good or bad shows direction (Money’s vice)

11. A FRAMEWORK ABOUT THE EVOLUTION AND STABILIZING FACTORS OF CULTURES OUTSIDE INFLUENCES FORCES OF NATURE FORCES OF MAN: TRADE, CONQUEST SCİENTİFİC DİSCOVERY ORIGINS Ecological factors: Geographic Economic Demographic Genetic/hygienic Historical Technological Urbanization SOCIETAL NORMS Value systems of major groups of population CONSEQUENCES Structure and functioning of institutions: Family patterns Role differentiation Social stratification Socialization emphases Education Religion Political structure Legislation Architecture Theory development Reinforcement

12. VALUES INFLUENCE 1) Corporate Strategy 2) Organizational Structure 3) Leadership Style 4) Management Philosophy 5) Human Resource Management 6) Decision Making

13. GLOSSARY IDEAL CULTURE: Man & woman agree on the importance of sexual fidelity. REAL CULTURE: 25 % of men and 10 % of women are reported to be unfaithful. MATERIAL CULTURE: Tangible (touchable) human creations which sociologist call as artifacts. VIRTUAL CULTURE: A typical culture evolved around computers and information technology. HIGH CULTURE: Cultural patterns that distinguish a society’s elite. e.g. Liking of Beethoven instead of Ankaralı Turgut. POPULAR CULTURE: Cultural patterns that are widespread among a society’s population. e.g. Pop, arabesque & fantasy music.

14. GLOSSARY G) SUBCULTURE: Cultural patterns that set apart some segment of society’s population.e.g. Jazz musician, computer nerds, surfers, Levanten in İzmir. Many people participate in many subcultures without having much commitment to any of them. However, sometimes ethnicity and religion may set people apart with tragic results. e.g. Hitler vs. Jews. or Jugoslavia, before break up; 1) was a single politico-national entity 2) used two alphabets 3) professed three religions 4) spoke four languages 5) home to five major nationalities 6) was divided into six political republics 7) influenced by the culture of seven surrounding countries.

15. GLOSSARY H) EUROCENTRISM: Dominance of Europe (Especially English). I) ETHNOCENTRISM: Judging other culture by the standarts of one’s own culture. e.g. For Westerners China is Far East, according to Chinese there is no such term; they regard their country as central kingdom and see their country as the center of the earth. J) CULTURAL RELATIVISM: Evaluating a culture by its own standards. K) COUNTER CULTURE: Cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely accepted within a society. L) CULTURAL LAG: The fact that some cultural elements change more quickly than others, disrupting a cultural system.