Cultural Influences

1
Cultural Influences

• Chp. 16 with Duane Weaver

2
Outline

• Culture and Culture Variability
• Norms
• Myths
• Rituals
• Sacred Profane Consumption
• Desacralization/Sacraliztion

3
Culture and Culture Variability

• Culture Values, ethics, rituals, traditions,
  material objects and services produced or valued
  by the members of a society
• A cultural system consists of 3 functional
  areas

Ecology
Social Structure
Ideology
Adaptation to habitat
How social order is maintained
Shared ethos, moral and aesthetic
4
Culture Variability

• Although every culture is different, four
  dimensions account for most of the variance

Power Distance
Uncertainty Avoidance
How the society handles ambiguity (religion?)
Power impact on relationships
Masculinity/Femininity
Individualism
How a society defines gender roles (examples?)
Collectivist or individualist focused society?
5
Norms

• Rules that govern what is right or wrong.

Norms
Explicitly decided
Culturally embedded
Enacted Norms
Crescive Norms
Subtleties (suggested appropriate behaviour) -
dressing, dining
Rules/guides
Taboos - punishable
Customs
Mores
Conventions
6
Myths

• Myth a story containing symbolic elements that
  expresses the shared emotions and ideals of a
  culture
• Myths serve four interrelated functions in a
  culture

Explain the origins of existence
Metaphysical
Emphasize that all components of the universe
are part of a single picture
Cosmological
Help maintain social order by authorizing a
social code
Sociological
Provide models for personal conduct
Psychological
7
Rituals

• Ritual
• A set of symbolic behaviours that occur in a
  fixed sequence and tend to be repeated
  periodically.
• Ritual Artifacts
• Items used in the performance of rituals
• Wedding cakes, birthday candles(others??)

8
Sacred and Profane Consumption

• Sacred Consumption
• Involves objects and events that are set apart
  from normal life and are treated with some degree
  of respect or awe
• Profane Consumption
• Involves consumer objects and events that are
  ordinary or of the everyday world
• Domains of Sacred Consumption

Sacred Places
Sacred People
Sacred Events
9
Desacralization Sacralization

• Desacralization
• A sacred item or symbol is removed from its
  special place, or is duplicated in mass
  quantities (Eiffel tower, Mona Lisa)
• It becomes profane as a result
• Sacralization
• When ordinary objects, events or people take on
  sacred meaning to a culture or to specific groups
  within a culture
• The Stanley Cup (hockey)
• World Cup (soccer)
• Confucius
• Abraham Lincoln