Exploring American Values and Cultural Evolution

1. U.S. Culture

2. List as many “American values” that you can think of • Remember values are the standards by which people define good and bad, beautiful and ugly

3. Basic Values • According to sociologist Robin Williams, 15 basic values are dominant in US culture: • Success -Science • Hard work -External conformity • Efficiency -Individualism • Material comfort -In-group superiority • Morality -Equality • Humanitarianism - Freedom • Progress - Patriotism • Democracy

4. Value Clusters • Made up of related core values that come together to form a larger whole • Example: Success • We find hard work, education, efficiency, material comfort and individualism all bound together

5. Value Contractions • Some values conflict with each other • Example: There cannot be full expressions of democracy, equality, racism and sexism at the same time • As society changes some values are challenged and undergo modification

6. Culture War • Core values do not change without meeting strong resistance • Today’s clash in values is so severe that it is referred to a culture war

7. Values blind people • Values and their supporting beliefs may blind people to other social circumstances • Example: the emphasis on individualism • So high that many people in the US believe that everyone is free to pursue the goal of success • Blinds them to the consequences of family poverty, lack of education and dead-end jobs

8. Ideal Culture v. Real Culture • Ideal Culture- refers to the ideal values and norms of people • Most people fall short of this • Real Culture- norms and values that people actually follow

9. Changing Society • As society changes over time new values emerge that reflect changed social conditions • For example: leisure, physical fitness, self-fulfillment, concern for environment

10. Culture Changes is 3 ways • Invention- creating new cultural elements • Telephone, airplane, internet • Discovery- Recognizing a better understanding of something already in existence • X-Ray, DNA • Diffusion- The spread of cultural traits from one society to another • Jazz music, slang words, etc.

11. technology • Central to material culture is technology • Refers to tool but can include the skills or procedures to make and use those tools • New technologies refer to the emerging technologies that have a major impact on human life

12. Culture Lag • Term coined by William Ogburn • Refers to a situation in which not all parts of a culture change at the same pace • A group’s material culture usually changes first • Non-material culture lags behind • Sometimes non-material culture never catches up

13. Cultural diffusion • The transmission of cultural characteristics • Material culture is more likely to change because of cultural diffusion • One consequence: Cultural leveling • The process in which cultures become similar to one another • Example: Japan adopting western culture

14. Culture Clash • Differences among cultures can be expected to generate most of the conflict around the world • Coming in contact with radically different cultures produces culture shock • Challenging our basic assumptions about life

15. Ethnocentrism • The attitude that one’s own culture is superior to those of other people • Can serve as the glue to hold society together • Strong sense of unity as a nation

16. Cultural Relativism • The belief that a culture must be understood on its own terms • Looking at a culture from their own perspective and understand why they do things their way • Can contribute to international peace

17. Multicultural • US is made up of different cultures • I.e. Anglo, Hispanic, African • Multiculturalism- a state in which all subcultures in the same society are equal to one another • Varies in degree from 1 society to another • Switzerland most multicultural (Fr, Gm, It) • Bosnia- minorities are despised and often killed • US somewhere in between

18. US Multiculturalism • Eurocentrism- view the world from the standpoint of European culture • Afrocentrism- the view of world from the standpoint of African culture

19. Pop Culture • Popular culture consists of relatively unsophisticated artistic creations that appeal to the mass audience • Movies, tv shows, music

20. Cultural Universals • All human beings have the same needs that must be met in order to survive • Biological needs- food and shelter • Social needs- clothing, complex communication, peaceful coexistence, aesthetic spiritual experiences • These needs are universal • Cultural Universals- practices found in all cultures as the means for meeting the same human needs • Food gathering - art forms • Building houses - religion • Developing language

21. What values do celebrities portray?