Which Sociologist Pointed Out That Material Culture Changes Faster Than Nonmaterial Culture?

Explain fabric versus nonmaterial culture
Talk over the concept of cultural universalism as it relates to society
Compare and contrast ethnocentrism and xenocentrism

Humans are social creatures. Since the dawn ofHomo sapiensnearly 250,000 years agone, people accept grouped together into communities in lodge to survive. Almost every human being beliefs, from shopping to spousal relationship to expressions of feelings, is learned. In the United States, people tend to view marriage every bit a choice betwixt two people, based on common feelings of love. In other nations and in other times, marriages have been bundled through an intricate process of interviews and negotiations betwixt entire families, or in other cases, through a direct organization, such as a "mail-order helpmate." To someone raised in New York City, the marriage community of a family from Nigeria may seem strange or even incorrect. Conversely, someone from a traditional Kolkata family unit might be perplexed with the idea of romantic love as the foundation for wedlock and lifelong commitment. In other words, the way in which people view marriage depends largely on what they have been taught.

Behavior based on learned customs is not a bad thing. Existence familiar with unwritten rules helps people feel secure and "normal." This reinforces social norms in society, bringing society and some sense of cohesion. Most people want to live their daily lives confident that their behaviors will not exist challenged or disrupted. But even an activeness as seemingly simple as commuting to work evidences a bully bargain of cultural propriety.

A crowd of people behind closed subway car doors is shown — How would a visitor from the suburban United States act and experience on this crowded Tokyo train? (Photo courtesy of simonglucas/flickr)

Take the case of going to work on public transportation. Whether people are commuting in Dublin, Cairo, Mumbai, or San Francisco, many behaviors will be the aforementioned, simply significant differences also arise between cultures. Typically, a rider will observe a marked omnibus finish or station, wait for his bus or train, pay an agent before or afterwards boarding, and quietly take a seat if 1 is available. But when boarding a motorbus in Cairo, passengers might have to run, considering buses there oftentimes do non come to a full cease to take on patrons. Dublin bus riders would be expected to extend an arm to indicate that they want the bus to finish for them. And when boarding a commuter train in Bombay, passengers must squeeze into overstuffed cars among a lot of pushing and shoving on the crowded platforms. That kind of behavior would exist considered the height of rudeness in a small town in the United States, simply in Bombay it reflects the daily challenges of getting around on a train system that is taxed to chapters.

In this example of commuting, culture consists of thoughts (expectations about personal space, for example) and tangible things (bus stops, trains, and seating capacity).

refers to the objects or belongings of a grouping of people.
, or abstract forms of culture, in contrast, consists of the ideas, attitudes, and beliefs of a society.

Material and nonmaterial aspects of culture are linked, and physical objects often symbolize cultural ideas. A metro pass is a material object, only information technology represents a form of nonmaterial civilization, namely, capitalism, and the acceptance of paying for transportation. Clothing, hairstyles, and jewelry are part of textile culture, but the appropriateness of wearing certain vesture for specific events reflects nonmaterial culture. A school edifice belongs to material culture, just the instruction methods and educational standards are part of education's nonmaterial civilization. These material and nonmaterial aspects of culture tin can vary subtly from region to region. As people travel farther afield, moving from dissimilar regions to entirely different parts of the earth, certain material and nonmaterial aspects of culture become dramatically unfamiliar. What happens when nosotros encounter different cultures? Every bit nosotros interact with cultures other than our own, we go more than aware of the differences and commonalities between others' worlds and our own.

Often, a comparison of i culture to some other will reveal obvious differences. But all cultures too share common elements.

are patterns or traits that are globally common to all societies.

I example of a cultural universal is the family unit: every human society recognizes a family structure that regulates sexual reproduction and the care of children. Yet, how that family unit is defined and how it functions vary. In many Asian cultures, for case, family members from all generations normally live together in ane household. In these cultures, young adults continue to live in the extended household family unit structure until they marry and bring together their spouse's household, or they may remain and raise their nuclear family unit within the extended family'south homestead. In the United States, past contrast, individuals are expected to leave home and live independently for a catamenia before forming a family unit unit that consists of parents and their offspring. However, if we look closely, nosotros will come across variation in both regions. Other cultural universals include customs like funeral rites, weddings, and celebrations of births. However, each civilisation may view the ceremonies quite differently.

Anthropologist George Murdock first recognized the existence of cultural universals while studying systems of kinship effectually the world. Murdock constitute that cultural universals often revolve effectually bones human being survival, such as finding food, vesture, and shelter, or around shared human experiences, such as birth and death or illness and healing. Through his research, Murdock identified other universals including language, the concept of personal names, and, interestingly, jokes. Sense of humour seems to be a universal way to release tensions and create a sense of unity among people (Murdock 1949). Sociologists consider sense of humor necessary to human interaction because it helps individuals navigate otherwise tense situations.

Is Music a Cultural Universal?

Imagine that you lot are sitting in a theater, watching a movie. The film opens with the heroine sitting on a park bench with a grim expression on her face up. Cue the music. The first slow and mournful notes play in a minor key. As the melody continues, the heroine turns her caput and sees a homo walking toward her. The music slowly gets louder, and the dissonance of the chords sends a prickle of fear running downward your spine. You sense that the heroine is in danger.

Now imagine that yous are watching the same movie, but with a dissimilar soundtrack. Every bit the scene opens, the music is soft and soothing, with a hint of sadness. You see the heroine sitting on the park bench and sense her loneliness. All of a sudden, the music swells. The woman looks up and sees a man walking toward her. The music grows fuller, and the step picks up. You feel your heart rise in your chest. This is a happy moment.

Music has the ability to evoke emotional responses. In idiot box shows, movies, even commercials, music elicits laughter, sadness, or fear. Are these types of musical cues cultural universals?

In 2009, a squad of psychologists, led by Thomas Fritz of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Federal republic of germany, studied people's reactions to music that they'd never heard (Fritz et al. 2009). The enquiry team traveled to Cameroon, Africa, and asked Mafa tribal members to mind to Western music. The tribe, isolated from Western culture, had never been exposed to Western culture and had no context or experience within which to interpret its music. Notwithstanding, equally the tribal members listened to a Western piano piece, they were able to recognize three basic emotions: happiness, sadness, and fear. Music, information technology turns out, is a sort of universal linguistic communication.

Researchers also found that music tin foster a sense of wholeness within a group. In fact, scientists who written report the evolution of language have concluded that originally language (an established component of group identity) and music were one (Darwin 1871). Additionally, since music is largely nonverbal, the sounds of music can cross societal boundaries more easily than words. Music allows people to make connections, where language might be a more hard barricade. As Fritz and his team found, music and the emotions information technology conveys tin can be cultural universals.

Despite how much humans accept in common, cultural differences are far more than prevalent than cultural universals. For instance, while all cultures have language, analysis of particular language structures and conversational etiquette reveal tremendous differences. In some Middle Eastern cultures, it is common to stand up close to others in conversation. Due north Americans keep more than distance and maintain a large "personal space." Fifty-fifty something as simple as eating and drinking varies greatly from culture to culture. If your professor comes into an early forenoon class holding a mug of liquid, what do you lot assume she is drinking? In the U.s., it's almost likely filled with coffee, not Earl Grey tea, a favorite in England, or Yak Butter tea, a staple in Tibet.

The way cuisines vary across cultures fascinates many people. Some travelers pride themselves on their willingness to try unfamiliar foods, like celebrated food writer Anthony Bourdain, while others return domicile expressing gratitude for their native culture's fare. Often, people in the United States express disgust at other cultures' cuisine and call back that it'southward gross to consume meat from a canis familiaris or guinea pig, for instance, while they don't question their own addiction of eating cows or pigs. Such attitudes are an instance of:

– evaluating and judging some other culture based on how it compares to one's own cultural norms.

Ethnocentrism, as sociologist William Graham Sumner (1906) described the term, involves a belief or mental attitude that 1'south ain civilization is meliorate than all others. Almost everyone is a little bit ethnocentric. For instance, Americans tend to say that people from England drive on the "wrong" side of the route, rather than on the "other" side. Someone from a country where dog meat is standard fare might notice it off-putting to come across a dog in a French eatery—non on the menu, but equally a pet and patron's companion. A proficient example of ethnocentrism is referring to parts of Asia as the "Far East." One might question, "Far east of where?"

A high level of appreciation for one'due south own culture can be healthy; a shared sense of community pride, for example, connects people in a lodge. But ethnocentrism tin can lead to disdain or dislike for other cultures and could cause misunderstanding and conflict. People with the best intentions sometimes travel to a society to "aid" its people, because they meet them as uneducated or astern—essentially junior. In reality, these travelers are guilty of:

– the deliberate imposition of i'southward ain cultural values on another culture.

Europe's colonial expansion, begun in the sixteenth century, was often accompanied by a severe cultural imperialism. European colonizers ofttimes viewed the people in the lands they colonized as uncultured savages who were in need of European governance, dress, religion, and other cultural practices. A more modern example of cultural imperialism may include the work of international assist agencies who innovate agricultural methods and found species from developed countries while overlooking ethnic varieties and agricultural approaches that are ameliorate suited to the particular region.

Ethnocentrism can be so strong that when confronted with all of the differences of a new civilization, one may feel disorientation and frustration. In sociology, nosotros call this . A traveler from Chicago might detect the nightly silence of rural Montana unsettling, not peaceful. An commutation student from Cathay might be annoyed by the abiding interruptions in class as other students ask questions—a practice that is considered rude in China. Perhaps the Chicago traveler was initially absorbed with Montana's quiet beauty and the Chinese educatee was originally excited to run into a U.Southward.-manner classroom immediate. But as they experience unanticipated differences from their own culture, their excitement gives way to discomfort and doubts about how to acquit appropriately in the new state of affairs. Eventually, as people learn more almost a culture, they recover from civilisation shock.

Civilization shock may announced because people aren't ever expecting cultural differences. Anthropologist Ken Barger (1971) discovered this when he conducted a participatory observation in an Inuit customs in the Canadian Arctic. Originally from Indiana, Barger hesitated when invited to join a local snowshoe race. He knew he'd never hold his own against these experts. Sure enough, he finished last, to his mortification. Just the tribal members congratulated him, saying, "You really tried!" In Barger's own culture, he had learned to value victory. To the Inuit people, winning was enjoyable, simply their culture valued survival skills essential to their surround: how hard someone tried could mean the difference between life and death. Over the course of his stay, Barger participated in caribou hunts, learned how to accept shelter in winter storms, and sometimes went days with little or no food to share among tribal members. Trying difficult and working together, two nonmaterial values, were indeed much more than of import than winning. During his time with the Inuit tribe, Barger learned to appoint in cultural relativism.

–the do of assessing a culture past its own standards rather than viewing it through the lens of one's own culture.

Practicing cultural relativism requires an open up mind and a willingness to consider, and even adapt to, new values and norms. However, indiscriminately embracing everything about a new civilisation is not always possible. Even the most culturally relativist people from egalitarian societies—ones in which women take political rights and control over their own bodies—would question whether the widespread practice of female genital mutilation in countries such as Ethiopia and Sudan should be accepted equally a part of cultural tradition. Sociologists attempting to engage in cultural relativism, then, may struggle to reconcile aspects of their own culture with aspects of a civilization that they are studying.

Sometimes when people attempt to rectify feelings of ethnocentrism and develop cultural relativism, they swing as well far to the other end of the spectrum.

– the contrary of ethnocentrism, and refers to the belief that another civilization is superior to one's ain.

An substitution student who goes abode after a semester abroad or a sociologist who returns from the field may discover information technology difficult to associate with the values of their own culture after having experienced what they deem a more upright or nobler style of living.

Peradventure the greatest challenge for sociologists studying different cultures is the matter of keeping a perspective. It is impossible for anyone to go on all cultural biases at bay; the best we can do is strive to be aware of them. Pride in 1'due south own culture doesn't have to pb to imposing its values on others. And an appreciation for another culture shouldn't preclude individuals from studying it with a critical center.

During her summer vacation, Caitlin flew from Chicago to Madrid to visit Maria, the substitution educatee she'd befriended the previous semester. In the drome, she heard rapid, musical Spanish beingness spoken all around her. Exciting equally it was, she felt isolated and disconnected. Maria'south mother kissed Caitlin on both cheeks when she greeted her. Her imposing father kept his distance. Caitlin was half asleep by the time supper was served—at 10 p.m.! Maria's family sat at the table for hours, speaking loudly, gesturing, and arguing about politics, a taboo dinner subject in Caitlin'south house. They served wine and toasted their honored invitee. Caitlin had trouble interpreting her hosts' facial expressions and didn't realize she should brand the next toast. That nighttime, Caitlin crawled into a strange bed, wishing she hadn't come. She missed her dwelling and felt overwhelmed by the new customs, linguistic communication, and surroundings. She'd studied Castilian in school for years—why hadn't it prepared her for this? What Caitlin hadn't realized was that people depend not but on spoken words but also on subtle cues like gestures and facial expressions, to communicate. Cultural norms accompany even the smallest nonverbal signals (DuBois 1951). They aid people know when to milk shake hands, where to sit, how to converse, and even when to laugh. Nosotros chronicle to others through a shared set of cultural norms, and ordinarily, we accept them for granted.

For this reason, culture shock is often associated with traveling abroad, although it tin happen in 1'due south own state, state, or fifty-fifty hometown. Anthropologist Kalervo Oberg (1960) is credited with get-go coining the term "civilization shock." In his studies, Oberg found that nearly people institute encountering a new culture to be heady at showtime. Just bit past bit, they became stressed by interacting with people from a different civilization who spoke another language and used different regional expressions. There was new nutrient to digest, new daily schedules to follow, and new rules of etiquette to larn. Living with this constant stress can brand people experience incompetent and insecure. People react to frustration in a new civilisation, Oberg found, by initially rejecting it and glorifying i's ain culture. An American visiting Italy might long for a "existent" pizza or complain about the unsafe driving habits of Italians compared to people in the United States.

It helps to call back that culture is learned. Everyone is ethnocentric to an extent, and identifying with one's own land is natural.

Caitlin's shock was pocket-size compared to that of her friends Dayar and Mahlika, a Turkish couple living in married pupil housing on campus. And information technology was nothing like that of her classmate Sanai. Sanai had been forced to flee war-torn Bosnia with her family when she was 15. After two weeks in Spain, Caitlin had developed a bit more pity and understanding for what those people had gone through. She understood that adjusting to a new culture takes time. Information technology tin can take weeks or months to recover from culture shock, and it can take years to fully suit to living in a new culture. By the finish of Caitlin's trip, she'd made new lifelong friends. She'd stepped out of her comfort zone. She'd learned a lot about Spain, but she'd also discovered a lot nigh herself and her own civilisation.

Though "guild" and "culture" are often used interchangeably, they have unlike meanings. A order is a group of people sharing a community and culture. Civilization mostly describes the shared behaviors and behavior of these people and includes material and nonmaterial elements. Our experience of cultural difference is influenced by our ethnocentrism and xenocentrism. Sociologists try to practice cultural relativism.

Examine the deviation between material and nonmaterial culture in your world. Identify ten objects that are function of your regular cultural feel. For each, then place what aspects of nonmaterial civilization (values and behavior) that these objects stand for. What has this practise revealed to you most your culture?

Do yous feel that feelings of ethnocentricity or xenocentricity are more prevalent in U.S. culture today than earlier in your life?? Why exercise you lot believe this? What social forces or events might inform this?

Barger, Ken. 2008. "Ethnocentrism." Indiana University, July ane. Retrieved May 2, 2022 (http://www.iupui.edu/~anthkb/ethnocen.htm).

Darwin, Charles R. 1871. The Descent of Man, and Option in Relation to Sex. London: John Murray.

DuBois, Cora. 1951. "Civilisation Stupor." Presentation to Panel Discussion at the Get-go Midwest Regional Meeting of the Institute of International Education." November 28. Also presented to the Women's Guild of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 3, 1954.

Fritz, Thomas, Sebastian Jentschke, Nathalie Gosselin, et al. 2009. "Universal Recognition of 3 Basic Emotions in Music." Current Biological science 19(7).

Murdock, George P. 1949. Social Structure. New York: Macmillan.

Oberg, Kalervo. 1960. "Cultural Shock: Adjustment to New Cultural Environments." Applied Anthropology 7:177–182.

Sumner, William G. 1906. Folkways: A Report of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals. New York: Ginn and Co.

Swoyer, Chris. 2003. "The Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis." In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited past E. N. Zalta, Winter. Retrieved May v, 2022 (http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2003/entries/davidson/).