1

Subject
Sociology

Topic
Culture

Submitted by
Group 1st
Jaweria Abdul Sattar (17-132)
Sadaf Hafeez (17-118)
Sana Aslam (17-110)
Saira Ijaz (17-146)
Maria Ashfaq (17-236)
Nadia Waseem (17-210)

Submitted To
Mam Masoma

Applied Psychology
Section B
Evening
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Culture

Introduction
The concept of culture is among the most widely used notions in sociology. Normally,
one can presume culture to be equivalent to higher things of the mind such as art, literature,
music and painting. However, in the perspective of sociologist it goes beyond such activities.
Culture refers to the ways of life of the members of society, or of groups within a society. It
includes how they dress, their marriage customs, language and family life, their patterns of
work, religious ceremonies and leisure pursuits Cultural sociology is one of the main major
and most popular are as of the American Sociological Association. The sociology of culture
developed from the intersection between sociology, as shaped by early theorists like Marx,
Durkheim, and Weber, and with the rising specialization of anthropology where researchers
lead the way of ethnographic approach for unfolding and examining different diversity of
cultures around the world.
Humans are social creatures. Culture is a strong part of people's lives. It influences their
views, their values, their humour, their hopes, their loyalties, and their worries and fears. So
when you are working with people and building relationships with them, it helps to have some
perspective and understanding of their cultures.
But as we explore culture, it's also important to remember how much we have in
common. People see the world very differently, but they know what it is like to wake up in the
morning and look forward to the adventures that of the day. We are all human beings. We all
love deeply, want to learn, have hopes and dreams, and have experienced pain and fear.

Meaning of Culture
Culture describes a certain set of customs, ideas and social behaviour of a group of
similar people in a society. Geographical borders usually segregate cultures. Some
characteristics like language, religion, food habits, social norms, music and arts stay specific
in one particular culture.

Definition
The term "culture" can be used as part of a descriptive statement, as in discussing the
culture of our modern society or the culture of the Hispanic population. In this case, it refers,
in the collective sense, to the norms, values, beliefs, and expressive symbols held and used in
a particular subset of the population.
For example, it is possible to acquire a new culture by moving to a new country or
region, by a change in our economic status, or by becoming disabled. When we think of culture
this broadly we realize we all belong to many cultures at once.
According to sociologists, culture consists of the values, beliefs, systems of language
and communication, and practices that people share in common and that can be used to define
them as a collective
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According to Erikson, cultures change through the action of persons whose ideas and
behaviour “fit” the culture.
Horton and Hunt define “Culture is everything which is socially shared and learned
by the members of a society.”
Tylor defined “It is that complex, whole including beliefs, art, region, values, norms,
ideas, law, taught, knowledge, custom and other capabilities acquired by a man as a member
of a society.”
They key to understanding culture as it relates to communication is developing an awareness
and acceptance of different perspectives.
 Perspectives can be described and categorized as follows:
Perceptions: Our experience of the world, how we get and interpret information. What we
see, what we ignore; what we notice or disregard.
Beliefs: What we think is true or false.
Values: What we feel is right or wrong, good or bad.
Attitudes: How we act and react based on our interpretations
The important elements of culture which form perspectives are often hidden and make up what
is called covert culture. However, these can be observed or experienced through various
interactions involving representative practices or products, which are called overt culture.

Features & Characteristics of Culture

Some of the important characteristics of culture has been cited below
1. Culture is learned
Culture is not inherited biologically but it is leant socially by man in a society. It is not
an inborn tendency but acquired by man from the association of others, e.g. drinking, eating,
dressing, walking, behaving, reading are all learnt by man.
2. Culture is social
It is not an individual phenomenon but it is the product of society. It develops in the
society through social interaction. It is shared by the man of society No man can acquire it
without the association of others. Man is man only among men. It helps to develop qualities of
human beings in a social environment. Deprivation of a man from his company is the
deprivation of human qualities.
3. Culture is shared
Culture is something shared. It is nothing that an individual can passes but shared by
common people of a territory. For example, customs, traditions, values, beliefs are all shared
by man in a social situation. These beliefs and practices are adopted by all equally.
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4. Culture is transmitted
Culture is capable of transmitted from one generation to the next. Parents papa’s
cultural traits to their children and in return they pass to their children and son on. It is not
transmitted through genes but through language. Language is means to communication which
passes cultural traits from one generation to another.
5. Culture is continuous
It is continuous process. It is like a stream which is flowing from one generation to
another through centuries. “Culture is the memory of human race.”
6. Culture is accumulative
Culture is not a matter of month or a year. It is the continuous process and adding new
cultural traits. Many cultural traits are borrowed from outside and these absorbed in that culture
which adopt it, as culture is accumulative and combines the suitable cultural traits.
7. Culture is integrated
All the cultural aspects are inter-connected with each other. The development of culture
is the integration of its various parts. For example, values system is interlinked with morality,
customs, beliefs and religion.
8. Culture is changing
It remains changing but not static. Cultural process undergoes changes. But with
different speeds from society to society and generation to generation.
9. Culture varies from society to society
Every society has its own culture and ways of behaving. It is not uniform everywhere
but occurs differently in various societies. Every culture is unique in itself is a specific society.
For example, values, customs, traditions, ideologies, religion, belief, practices are not similar
but different in every society. However, the ways of eating, drinking, speaking, greeting,
dressing etc. are differs from one social situation to another in the same time.
10. Culture is responsive
Culture is responsive to the changing conditions of a physical world. It intervenes in
the natural environment and helps man from all dangers and natural calamities e.g. our houses
are responsible to give us shelter and safety from storm and heavy rains.
11. Culture is gratifying
It is gratifying and provide all the opportunities for needs and desires satisfaction. These
needs may be biological or social but It is responsible to satisfy it. Our needs are food, shelter,
clothing and desires are status, fame, money, sex etc. are all the examples which are fulfilled
according to the cultural ways. In fact, it is defined as the process through which human beings
satisfy their need.
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12. Linked with society

Last but not the least one of the characteristics of culture that culture and society are
one and the same. But if we say that these turn two are twin sister, it would not be wrong.
Society is a composite of people and they interact each other through it. It is to bind the people
within the society.

Conclusion
The concept of culture is one of the most important notions in sociology. We can't talk
about culture without drawing links with identity. Explains how culture plays an important role
in perpetuating the values and norms of a society. Culture also offers significant opportunities
for resourcefulness and change. Cultural values and norms often change over time. In today's
we have unprecedented opportunities to make ourselves and to create our own identities.
Talking about identity, we are our own best resources in defining who we are, where we have
come from and where we are going. The decision we take in our everyday lives about what we
wear, eat, how to behave and how to spend time help to make us who we are. Through our
capacity as self-conscious, self-aware human beings, we constantly create and recreate our
identities.
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References
 http://www.studylecturenotes.com/social-sciences/sociology/112-what-is-culture
 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259692390_Sociological_concepts_of_cultu
re_and_identity
 https://www.importantindia.com/23863/culture-top-10-reasons-why-culture-is-so-
important/
 https://www.universalclass.com/articles/psychology/defining-culture-in-
sociology.htm
 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262254966