Culture refers to the language, values, beliefs,
IDEAS, BELIEFS , VALUES
behavior, and material objects that constitute a
people’s way of life. It is a defining element of
society.
Culture is derived from the Latin word “ Cultura”
or “Cultus” which means care or cultivation.
Culture is the widening of the mind and of the
spirit.
Culture is a system of building identity.
CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE:
1. Culture is learned
2. Culture is socially transmitted through
language
3. Culture is a social product
4. Culture is a source of gratification
5. Culture is adaptive
6. Culture is the distinctive way of life of a
group of people
7. Culture is material and non-material
8. Culture has sanctions and controls
9. Culture is stable yet dynamic
10. Culture is an established pattern of
behaviour
FUNCTIONS OF CULTURE
1. Culture provides behavioural pattern
2. Culture maintains the biologic functioning
of the group
3. Culture gives meaning and direction to
one’s existence
4. Culture offers a ready- made solutions to
man’s material and immaterial problems.
5. Culture develops man’s values and gives
him conscience
COMPONENTS OF CULTURE
1. NORMS – rules which guide behaviour
a. Folkways –these are everyday
habits, customs, traditions and
conventions people obey without
giving much thought to the matter.
b. MORES-These are the norms
people consider vital to their
wellbeing and most cherished
values ; they are special customs
with moral and ethical significance,
which are strongly held and
emphasized.
Two kinds of Mores:
1) Positives mores or duty or the “
Thou shall behaviour”
2) Negative mores or taboo or the
“Thou shall not behaviour”
c. Laws – These are formalized norms
enacted by people vested with legitimate authority.
2.
 Ideas – are non-material aspects of culture
and embody man’s conception of his
physical, social and cultural world.
 Beliefs – refers to a person’s conviction
about a certain idea; it embodies people’s
perception of reality and includes the
primitive ideas of the universe as well as
the scientist’s empirical view of the world.
 Values – are abstract concepts of what is
important and worthwhile. They are the
general ideas that individuals share about
what is good or bad, right or wrong,
desirable and undesirable.
3. MATERIAL CULTURE – It refers to the
concrete and tangible objects produced and
used by man to satisfy his varied needs and
wants. It ranges from prehistoric stone
tools and weapons to sophisticated and
modern spaceships and weapons of mass
destructions,
Artifacts – refer to a simple man
made tools and objects such as a
knapped flint, which presents
evidence of an ancient culture.
4. SYMBOLS – It refers to an object, gesture,
sounds, color or design that represent
something” other than itself”
DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON CULTURE
a) Cultural Relativism – The concept states
that cultures differ, so that a cultural traits,
act or idea has no meaning or function by
itself but has a meaning only within its
cultural setting… Culture is relative, and no
cultural practice is good or bad by itself.
b) Culture Shock – It refers to the feeling of
disbelief, disorganization, and frustration
one experiences when he encounters
cultural patterns or practices which are
different from his.
c) Ethnocentrism – It refers to the tendency
to see the behaviours, beliefs, values, and
norms of one’s own group as the only right
way of living and to judge others by those
standards.
d) Xenocentrism - This refers to the idea that
what is foreign is best and that one’s
lifestyle, products or ideas are inferior to
those of others.
e) Noble savage mentality –It refers to the
evaluation of one’s culture and that of
others based on the romantic notion that
the culture and way of life of the primitives
or other simple cultures is better, more
acceptable, and more orderly.
 f) Subculture – This refers to smaller groups
which develop norms, values, beliefs and
special languages which make them distinct
from the broader society,
g) Counterculture or contra culture – It refers
to subgroups whose standards come in
conflict with and oppose the conventional
standards of the dominant culture. These
subgroups become a threat to the
dominant society and are considered social
problems.
h) Culture lag – It refers to the gap between
the material and non-material culture.
Material culture advances more rapidly and
is more readily accepted by people such
that the non-material culture lags behind.
 Colonization – It refers to the political,
CATEGORIES OF CULTURE IN PHILIPPINE
SOCIETY .
1) Based on Nationality
2) Based on Ethno Linguistic Group
3) Based on Historical Epochs of
Philippine Culture
4) Based on Economic means
5) Based on Geographical Location
6) Based on Religion
7) Based on Technology
8) Based on Age
9) Based on Economic Status
10) Based on Response to Colonialism
Social Process of Diffusion
 Acculturation – Cultural
borrowing and cultural
imitation.
 Assimilation- Blending or
fusion of two distinct
cultures through long
periods of interactions.
 Amalgamation- Biological
or hereditary fusion of
members of different
societies
 Enculturation – Deliberate
infusion of a new culture to
another.
social and political policy establishing a
colony which would be subject to the rule
or governance of the colonizing state. It is
politically termed as IMPERIALISM. Once
the economy of a more technologically
advanced country dominates the economy
of a less developed state, such condition is
termed NEO-COLONIALISM or ECONOMIC
IMPERIALISM. Generally, the superior
culture of the colonizer is diffused into the
colonized territory although there could be
an interpretation of cultures.

SYMBOLIC USES OF CULTURE

1) Culture of poverty  Rebellion and Revolutionary Movements –

2) Culture of opulence These aims to change the whole social
3) Culture of Corruption order and replace the leadership. They
4) Culture of Silence and culture of Sabotage challenge the existing folkways and mores
5) Pop culture and propose a new scheme of norms,
6) Culture of apathy values, and organization.
7) Culture of conspicuous consumption
8) Culture of exploitation and dehumanization -----------------------end------------------------

CAUSES OF CULTURAL CHANGE

 Discovery – It refers to the process of

finding a new place or an object, artefact,
or anything that previously existed.

 Invention – It implies a creative mental

process of devising, creating, and
producing something new, novel or
original’. It also implies the utilization and
combination of previously known elements
to produce and original or novel product.

 Diffusion- It refers to the spread of cultural

traits or social practices from a society or
group to another belonging to the same
society or to another through direct contact
with each other and exposure to new
forms.