JUST A REMINDER

Cheating in any form will be met with a zero for the individual cheating and anyone else who allows cheating to occur from their work. Cheating helps NO ONE, so please do not be tempted to participate. Cheating includes:• Providing another student with the answer either

verbally or electronically• Submitting another student’s work as your ownCheating does NOT include: - Using the book for help- Asking the teacher questions- Using the Internet to look up examples to help you

understand better, and other additional information

CULTURAL VARIATIONChapter 2, Section 2

COMMON FEATURES OF CULTURE

Cultures are vastly different, even though societies all have the same basic needs to meet.

Features common to all cultures are known as cultural universals. Societies meet these features differently,

depending on biological features and environment.

George Murdock (anth.) came up with a list of over 65 of these.

While they may look different, their purpose is similar across cultures.

CULTURAL UNIVERSALS… A FEW

o Body adornment (clothing and “décor”)

Cooking Dancing Family Feasting Forms of

greeting

Funeral ceremonies

Housing Gift giving Language Sports Medicine Music Myths and

folklore

Religion Toolmaking

SOCIETAL VARIATIONS

Margaret Mead (anth.) conducted a study in the 1930s to determine whether temperament resulted from inherited characteristics or cultural influence.

Mead looked at two societies from Papua New Guinea– The Arapesh and Mundugumor.

THE TWO SOCIETIES

Arapesh Cotented, gentle, nonagressive. Both men and women are involved in

childcare Children are raised by many, and taught to

take out their aggressions w/o harming others.

Mundugumor Aggressive Men and women are both competitive and

jealous Hostility between own family members

MEAD’S FINDINGS

Conclusion: Temperament resulted more from culture than inherited traits.

Differences between the two societies were much greater than between men and women of the same tribe that’s from which she based her conclusion.

STUDYING VARIATION

When examining other cultures, it can be tempting to draw inaccurate conclusions based on our own biases.

Ethnocentrism= the tendency to view one’s own group as superior.

Cultural relativism= belief that cultures should be judged by their own standards rather than applying them to the standards of another.

VARIATION WITHIN SOCIETY

Subculture= a group of individuals who share values, norms and behaviors not shared by the entire population. Edwin Sutherland.

Benefits? Society is dependent on subcultures to provide

different functions. Subcultures make societies more open to change.

Counterculture= rejection of major values, norms, and practices and replacement with own. Ex: Anarchists, organized crime families, Hippies