UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY AND POLITICS

Module 2: Concepts, Aspects and Changes in/of Culture and Society

THE CONCEPT OF SOCIETY

Meaning and Nature of Society
According to sociologist, a society is a group of people with common territory, interaction, and culture.
Arcinas (2016) in his book, Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics, defined society as group of people
who share a common territory and culture. It is a group of people living together in a definite territory, having a
sense of belongingness, mutually interdependent of each other, and follow a certain way of life. Society is
derived from the Latin term “societas”, from socius, which means companion or associate. Thus, it refers to all
people, collectively regarded as constituting a community of related, interdependent individuals living in a
definite place, following a certain mode of life (Ariola, 2012).

Definition of society has two types - the functional definition and the structural definition. From the
functional point of view, society is defined as a complex of groups in reciprocal relationships, interacting upon
one another, enabling human organisms to carry on their life-activities and helping each person to fulfill his
wishes and accomplish his interests in association with his fellows. From the structural point of view, society is
the total social heritage of folkways, mores and institutions; of habits, sentiments and ideals. The important
aspect of society is the system of relationships, the pattern of the norms of interaction by which the members
of the society maintain themselves

The following are reasons people live together as a society (Ariola, 2012):

a. For survival – No man is an island. No man can live alone. From birth to death, man always depends
upon his parents and from others. The care, support, and protection given by them are important factors for
survival.
b. Feeling of gregariousness – This is the desire of people to be with other people, especially of their
own culture. People flock together for emotional warmth and belongingness. the need for approval, sympathy
and understanding to which the individual belongs is a psychosocial need. Among Filipinos, the feeling of
gregariousness is found in all levels of society, especially among the lower socio-economic classes. The more
the person is needy, the more he craves sympathy and understanding from someone else.
c. Specialization – Teachers, businessmen, students, physicians, nurses, lawyers, pharmacists, and
other professionals organize themselves into societies or associations to promote and protect their own
professions.

Characteristics of Society
Society comprises of a group of people who share a common culture, live in a particular area and feel
themselves to constitute a unified and distinct entity. Society or human society is a group of people related to
each other through persistent relations such as kinship, marriage, social status, roles and social networks. By
extension, society denotes the people of a region or country, sometimes even the world, taken as a whole.
Society has the following characteristics:
1. It is a social system. A social system consists of individuals interacting with rach other. A system
consists of sub-parts whereby a change in one part affects the other parts. Thus, a change in one group of
individuals will affect the stability of the other parts of the system.
2. It is relatively large. The people must be socially integrated to be considered relatively large than if
the people are individually scattered. Thus, the people in a family, clan, tribe, neighborhood, community are
socially integrated to be relatively large in scope.
3. It socializes its members and from those from without. Since most of society’s members are
born to it, they are taught the basic norms and expectations. Those who come from other societies, before
being accepted as functioning members, are socialized and taught the basic norms and expectations of the
society.
4. It endures, produces and sustains its members for generations. For society to survive, it must
have the ability to produce, endure and sustain its new members for at least several generations. For instance,
if a society cannot assist its members during their extreme conditions of hunger and poverty, that society will
not survive long.
 5. It holds its members through a common culture. The individuals in a society are held together
because that society has symbols, norms, values, patterns of interaction, vision and mission that are
commonly shared by the members of such society.
6. It has clearly-defined geographical territory. The members in a society must live in a certain
specific habitat or place and have a common belongingness and sense of purpose.

Major Functions of Society

A society is important because they have the following functions:
1. It provides a system of socialization. Knowledge and skills, dominant patterns of behavior, moral
and social values, and aspects of personality are transmitted to each member, especially to the young. the
family, the peer group, the school, the church and other government and non-government organizations play a
role in the individual’s development.
2. It provides the basic needs of its members. Food, clothing, shelter, medicine, education,
transportations and communication facilities, among others must be provided by society to satisfy the basic
needs of its members.
3. It regulates and controls people’s behavior. Conformity to the prevailing norms of conduct
ensures social control. The police, armed forces, law enforcement agencies and even the church and other
government and non-government organizations exist as means of social control. Peace and order are created
through a system of norms and formal organizations.
4. It provides the means of social participation. Through social participation, the individuals in a
society learn to interact with each other, present and discuss their concerns and solve their own problems or
renew their commitment and values. the people are given the opportunities to contribute to their knowledge
and skills for the betterment of their family, neighborhood and community. religious organizations, civic
organizations, people’s organizations (PO) and non-government organizations (NGOs) do their part in
community development.
5. It provides mutual support to the members. Mutual support is provided to the members of society
in the form of relief in any form and solution to problems met by them. This form of assistance may come from
the family, neighbors, clans, government and non-government agencies, civic and religious organizations.

Types of Societies
Societies exist in particular places and times, and they change over time. Societies are organized in
particular patterns, patterns that are shaped by a range of factors, including the way people procure food, the
availability of resources, contact with other societies, and cultural beliefs. For example, people can change
from herding to farming only if they have the knowledge, skills, and desire to do so and only in environments
that will support agriculture. As societies develop, changes take place in the social structures and relationships
between people that characterize each type of society. For example, in industrialized societies, relationships
between people typically must become more formal because people must interact with strangers and not just
relatives. It is important to note that not all societies go through all stages. Some are jolted into the future by
political events or changes in the global system, and some resist pressures to become modernized and
continue to live in simpler social systems.
Sociologists and anthropologists (experts who study early and tribal cultures) identified different types
and classification of societies. Below are the different types of societies as mentioned by Ariola (2012) in his
book Sociology and Anthropology with Family Planning:

According to Economic and According to Evolutionary View According to People’s

Material System Substinence
Pre-class Societies – They are Simple Societies – These were Food Gathering Societies (more
characterized by communal predominantly small, nomadic and than 16, 000 years ago) – The
ownership of property and division leadership is unstable. The people people survived from day to day
of labor. Examples of these had no specialization of skills; thus through hunting larger animals,
societies are earliest clans and they lived in a simple life. collecting shellfish and vegetable
tribes. gathering. Their tools were made
of stones, wood and bones.
Asiatic Societies – The people Compound Societies – Two or Horticultural Societies (12, 000
are economically self-sufficient but more simple societies merged to to 15, 000 years ago) - The people
form a new and bigger society.
their leaders are despotic and These societies tended to be planted seeds as a means of
powerful. predominantly settled agricultural production for subsistence
societies and tended to be
characterized by a division of four
or five social classes.
Ancient Societies – These are Doubly Compound Societies – Pastoral Societies – Most of the
characterized by private land These are completely integrated, people are nomadic who follow
ownership. The rich (those who more definite in political and their herds in quest of animals for
haves) owned big tract of private religious structure and more food and clothing to satisfy their
properties while the poor (those complex division of labor. needs. they raised animals to
who-have-nots) worked as Considerable progress in provide milk, fur and blood for
laborers. Thus, wealth is limited to infrastructure and knowledge in protein. These societies typically
a few people. arts had taken place. are relatively small, wandering
communities organized along
male-centered kinship groups.
Feudal Societies – The Militant Societies – These are Agricultural Societies – In the
aristocrats (feudal lords) owned characterized by the following: (a) early agricultural societies, people
the wealth of the country due to the existence of military used plow than hoe in food
their ownership of big tracts of organization and military rank; (b) production. By the use of plow, it
lands. The peasants worked on individual lives and private turns the topsoil deeper allowing
the lands of the feudal lords with possessions are at the disposal of for better aerating and fertilizing
only few benefits received by the State; and (c) individual thus improving better yield when
them. However, these types of activities such as recreation, harvested. Irrigation farming was
societies collapsed due to the rise movements, satisfaction of introduced which resulted to a
of cities and metropolis as a result biological needs, and production larger yield of production that can
of the rise of trades and industries. of goods are totally regulated by even feed large number of people
the State. In other words, who did not know how to produce
individuals exist to serve the food by themselves.
State.
Capitalists Societies – These Industrial Societies – These Industrial Societies - These
societies existed in societies societies are characterized by the societies began in the 18th
where two classes of people following: (a) people elect their century during the Industrial
appeared. The bourgeoise representatives to protect their Revolution and gained momentum
(property owners) who owned the individual initiatives; (b) freedom by the turn of the 19th century.
capital and the means of of belief, religion, production of This period is characterized by the
production and the proletariat (the industrial goods exist; (c) disputes use of machines as means of food
laborers or workers) who are and grievances are settled production. Mass production of
compelled to work for the through peaceful arbitration; and guns, invention of steam
capitalists or sell their small (d) business organizations appear locomotives and large production
properties to the capitalists. where cooperative efforts between of steel, and well-coordinated
management and labor are based labor force took place. Thus, the
on contractual agreement. In other people began to be highly skilled
words, individual freedom, rights and highly diversified in their
and initiatives are being protected. occupation.
Democratic Societies – These Post-Industrial Societies – Post-Industrial Societies or
societies are characterized by free These are characterized by: (a) Information Societies –
enterprise where people are free spread of computer machines and Information and communication
to engage in any lawful business existence of information and technology is the hallmark of
for profit or gain. People had to communication; (b) inventions and these modern societies. These are
work on their own livelihood discoveries in medicines, characterized by the spread of
according to what the law agriculture, business whether in computer technology, advances in
mandates. physical and natural sciences this technology are made by
emerged; and (c) pollution, highly-trained computer specialists
diseases, calamities are prevalent who work to increase the
as a result of the use of advanced capabilities of computers and
technology. internet. The use of modern
 technology gave rise to several
technological problems such as
pollution, lung illness, skin
problems and other.

Dissolution of a Society
There are several ways by which a society is dissolved: (1) when the people kill each other through civil
revolution; (2) when an outside force exterminates the members of the society; (3) when the members become
apathetic among themselves or have no more sense of belongingness; (4) when a small society is absorbed
by a stronger and larger society by means of conquest or territorial absorption; (5) when an existing society is
submerged in water killing all the people and other living things in it; or (60 when the people living in such a
society voluntarily attach themselves to another existing society.

THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE

Meaning and Nature of Culture
It was E.B. Taylor who conceptualized the definition of culture in 1860s. According to him, culture is a
complex whole which consist of knowledge, beliefs, ideas, habits, attitudes, skills, abilities, values, norms, art,
law, morals, customs, traditions, feelings and other capabilities of man which are acquired, learned and socially
transmitted by man from one generation to another through language and living together as members of the
society (Arcinas, 2016).
Below are other definitions of culture as mentioned in the book of David and Macaraeg (2010) entitled“
Sociology: Exploring Society and Culture”:
• Culture is a historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a system of inherited
conceptions expressed in symbolic form by means of which men communicate, perpetuate, and
develop their knowledge about and attitudes towards life. – Clifford Geertz
• Culture consists of learned systems of meaning, communicated by means of natural language and
other symbol systems, having representational, directive, and affective functions, and capable of
creating cultural entities and particular senses of reality. – Roy D’Andrade
• Culture is an extrasomatic (nongenetic, nonbodily), temporal continuum of things and events dependent
upon symbols. Culture consists of tools, implements, utensils, clothing, ornaments, customs,
institutions, beliefs, rituals, games, works of art, language, etc. – Leslie White
• Culture consists in the shared patterns of behavior and associated meanings that people learn and
participate in within the groups to which they belong. – Whitten and Hunter
• A society’s culture consists of whatever it is one has to know or believe in order to operate in a manner
acceptable to its members. – Ward Goodenough
• Culture is an instrumental reality, and apparatus for the satisfaction of the biological and derived need”.
It is the integral whole consisting of implements in consumers’ goods, of constitutional characters for
the various social groupings, of human ideas and crafts, beliefs and custom. – Malinowski
• Culture in general as a descriptive concept means the accumulated treasury of human creation: books,
paintings, buildings, and the like; the knowledge of ways of adjusting to our surroundings, both human
and physical; language, customs, and systems of etiquette, ethics, religion and morals that have been
built up through the ages. – Kluckhohn and Kelly
• Culture refers to that part of the total setting [of human existence] which includes the material objects of
human manufacture, techniques, social orientations, points of view, and sanctioned ends that are the
immediate conditioning factors underlying behavior or in simple terms it is the “man-made part of the
environment. – Herskovits
• A culture is the total socially acquired life-way or life-style of a group of people. It consists of the
patterned, repetitive ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that are characteristic of the members of a
particular society or segment of a society. – Harris
• The concept of culture as everything that people have, thinks, and does as members of a society. This
definition can be instructive because the three verbs correspond to the three major components of
culture. That is, everything that people have refers to material possessions; everything that people think
refers to those things they carry around in their heads, such as ideas, values, and attitudes; and
everything that people do refers to behavior patterns. Thus all cultures comprise (a) material objects,
(b) ideas, values, and attitudes, and (c) patterned ways of behaving. – Gary Ferraro.
 In general, culture is a term used by social scientists, like anthropologists and sociologists, to
encompass all the facets of human experience that extend beyond our physical fact. It simply refers to the way
we understand ourselves both as individuals and as members of society, and includes stories, religion, media,
rituals, and even language itself.
Irrespective of the various definitions, conceptions and approaches to the understanding of the concept
of culture, it is however agreed that culture is a way of life and morality is a part of culture. Practically all
modern definitions share key features.

Characteristics of Culture
From the Perspective of Sociologists) From the Perspective of Anthropologists
1. Dynamic, flexible and adaptive 1. Learned
- Culture necessarily changes, and is changed by, a - Culture is learned, as each person must learn how
variety of interactions, with individuals, media, and to “be” a member of that culture
technology, just to name a few. - Culture is acquired by being born into a particular
- Cultures interact and change. Most societies society in the process of enculturation. Through
interact with other societies, and as a consequence language, the cultural traits of society are passed on
their cultures interact that lead to exchanges of to younger members in the process of growing up
material (ex: tools and furniture) and non-material and through teaching.
(ex: ideas and symbols) components of culture. - Every human generation potentially can discover
- All cultures change, or else, they would have new things and invent better technologies. The new
problems adjusting and adapting to changing cultural skills and knowledge are added onto what
environments. was learned in previous generations.
- Culture is adaptive and dynamic, once we
recognize problems, culture can adapt again, in a
more positive way, to find solutions.
- We need our cultural skills to stay alive.
2. Shared and maybe challenged 2. Symbolic
- (Given the reality of social differentiation), as we - Culture is symbolic, as it based on the manipulation
share culture with others, we are able to act in a of symbols
appropriate ways as well as predict how others will - Culture renders meaning to what people do.
act. Despite the shared nature of culture, that doesn’t Beliefs, religion, rituals, myths, dances,
mean that culture is homogenous (the same). performances, music, artworks, sense of taste,
- It may be challenged by the presence of other education, innovations, identity, ethnicity, and so on
cultures and other social forces in society like are meaningful human expressions of what people
modernization, industrialization, and globalization. do and how they act.
3. Learned through socialization or enculturation 3. Systemic and integrated
- Culture is not biological, people do not inherit it but - Culture is systemic and integrated as the parts of
learned as interact in society. Much of learning culture work together r in an integrated whole.
culture is unconscious. People learn, absorb and - The systems of meanings and many other facets
acquire culture from families, friends, institutions, (sides) of culture such as kindred, religion, economic
and the media. The process of learning culture is activities, inheritance, and political process, do not
enculturation. function in isolation but an integrated whole that
makes society work.
- These varying systems of meanings, relations. And
processes are shared within a group of people
rendering culture bounded to those who seek a
sense of belonging to the same society.
4. Patterned social interactions 4. Shared
- Culture as a normative system has the capacity to - Culture is shared, as it offers all people ideas about
define and control human behaviors. behavior
- Norms (for example) are cultural expectations in - Since culture is shared within exclusive domains of
terms of how one will think, feel, or behave as set by social relations, societies operate differently from
one’s culture. It sets the patterns in terms of what is each other leading for cultural variations. Even
appropriate or inappropriate in a given setting. culture is bounded, it does not mean that there are
no variations in how people act and relate with each
 - Human interactions are guided by some forms of other within a given system of their respective
standards and expectations which in the end societies. On the contrary, the same society can be
regularize it. broadly diverse wherein people, for example, profess
connections to each other yet practice different
religion, values, or gender relations.
- Societies do not always exist independently from
each other.
[Link] through socialization or enculturation 5. Encompassing
- As we share our culture with others, we are able to - Culture covers every feature of humanity. Around
pass it on to the new members of society or the the world, people as members of their own societies
younger generation in different ways. establish connections with each other and form
- In the process of socialization /enculturation, we relationship guided by their respective cultural
were able to teach them about many things in life practices and values.
and equip them with the culturally acceptable ways - Edward Tylor defines culture as a complex whole
of surviving, competing, and making meaningful which encompasses beliefs, practices, traits, values,
interaction with others in society. attitudes, laws, norms, artifacts, symbols,
knowledge, and everything that a person learns and
shares as a member of society (David and
Macaraeg, 2010).
6. Requires language and other forms of
communication
- In the process of learning and transmitting culture,
symbols and language are needed to communicate
with others in society (Arcinas, 2016).

Importance/Functions of Culture
Sociologists recognize and regard culture as one of the most important concepts within sociology
because it plays a vital role in our social lives. It is essential for shaping social relationships, maintaining and
challenging social order, determining how we make sense of the world and our place in it, and in shaping our
everyday actions and experiences in society. Moreover, culture is important to sociologists because it plays a
significant and important role in the production of social order. The social order refers to the stability of society
based on the collective agreement to rules and norms that allow us to cooperate, function as a society, and live
together (ideally) in peace and harmony (Cole, 2019).
In the book of (David and Macaraeg, 2010), the following functions of culture were given emphasis:
(1) it serves as the “trademark” of the people in the society;
(2) it gives meaning and direction to one’s existence;
(3) it promotes meaning to individual’s existence;
(4) it predicts social behavior;
(5) it unifies diverse behavior;
(6) it provides social solidarity;
(7) it establishes social personality;
(8) it provides systematic behavioral pattern;
(9) it provides social structure category;
(10) it maintains the biologic functioning of the group;
(11) it offers ready-made solutions to man’s material and immaterial problems; and
(12) it develops man’s attitude and values and gives him a conscience.

Elements of Culture
1. Symbols refers to anything that is used to stand for something else. It is anything that gives meaning to the
culture. People who share a culture often attach a specific meaning to an object, gesture, sound, or image. An
example of which are the feasts we are celebrating. Those particular events give a representation of a
particular culture. Even the meanings we provide to things such as colors and graphic symbols provide
understanding which is common to a certain group of people (David and Macaraeg, 2010). For instance, a
cross is a significant symbol to Christians. It is not simply two pieces of wood attached to each other, nor is it
just an old object of torture and execution. To Christians, it represents the basis of their entire religion, and they
have great reverence for the symbol.
2. Language is known as the storehouse of culture ( Arcinas, 2016). Its system of words and symbols used to
communicate with other people. We have a lot of dialects in the Philippines that provide a means of
understanding. Through these, culture is hereby transmitted to future generation through learning (David and
Macaraeg, 2010).
3. Technology refers to the application of knowledge and equipment to ease the task of living and maintaining
the environment; it includes artifacts, methods and devices created and used by people (Arcinas, 2016).
4. Values are culturally defined standards for what is good or desirable. Values determine how individuals will
probably respond in any given circumstances. Members of the culture use the shared system of values to
decide what is good and what is bad. This also refers to the abstract concept of what is important and
worthwhile (David and Macaraeg, 2010). What is considered as good, proper and desirable, or bad, improper
or undesirable, in a culture can be called as values (Arcinas, 2016). It influences people’s behavior and serves
as a benchmark for evaluating the actions of others. Majority of Philippine population is bonded together by
common values and traits that are first taught at home and being applied in our day to day lives. Filipinos are
known for the following values: (a) compassionate; (b) spirit of kinship and camaraderie; (c) hard work and
industry; (d) ability to survive; (e) faith and religiosity; (f) flexibility, adaptability and creativity; (g) joy and humor;
(h) family orientation; (i) hospitality; and (j) pakikipagkapwa-tao
5. Beliefs refers to the faith of an individual ( David and Macaraeg, 2010). They are conceptions or ideas of
people have about what is true in the environment around them like what is life, how to value it and how one’s
belied on the value of life relate with his or her interaction with others and the world. These maybe based on
common sense, folk wisdom, religion, science or a combination of all of these (Arcinas, 2016).
6. Norms are specific rules/standards to guide for appropriate behavior (Arcinas, 2016). These are societal
expectations that mandate specific behaviors in specific situations (David and Macaraeg, 2010). Like in school,
we are expected to behave in a particular way. If violate norms, we look different. Thus, we can be called as
social deviants. For example, Filipino males are expected to wear pants, not skirts and females are expected
to have a long hair not a short one like that of males. Social norms are indeed very essential in understanding
the nature of man’s social relationship. They are of different types and forms According to Palispis (2007), as
mention by Baleña (2016), in the social interaction process, each member possesses certain expectations
about the responses of another member. Therefore, it is very important to determine the different forms of
societal norms.

Types: a. Proscriptive norm defines and tells us things not to do

b. Prescriptive norm defines and tells us things to do

Forms
a. Folkways are also known as customs (customary/repetitive ways of doing things); they are forms of norms
for everyday behavior that people follow for the sake of tradition or convenience. Breaking them does not
usually have serious consequences. We have certain customs that were passed on by our forebears that make
up a large part of our day-to-day existence and we do not question their practicality. Since they are being
practiced, it is expected that we do them also. For example, we Filipinos eat with our bear hands.
b. Mores are strict norms that control moral and ethical behavior; they are based on definitions of right and
wrong (Arcinas, 2016). They are norms also but with moral undertones (David and Macaraeg, 2010). For
example, since our country Philippines is a Christian nation, we are expected to practice monogamous
marriage. So, if a person who has two or more partners is looked upon as immoral. Polygamy is considered
taboo in Philippine society.
c. Laws are controlled ethics and they are morally agreed, written down and enforced by an official law
enforcement agency (Arcinas, 2016). They are institutionalized norms and mores that were enacted by the
state to ensure stricter punishment in order for the people to adhere to the standards set by society (David and
Macaraeg, 2010).

Two Components of Culture

Sociologists describe two interrelated aspects of human culture: the physical objects of the culture
(material culture) and the ideas associated with these objects (non-material culture).

1. Material culture consists of tangible things (Banaag, 2012). It refers to the physical objects, resources, and
spaces that people use to define their culture. These include homes, neighborhoods, cities, schools, churches,
synagogues, temples, mosques, offices, factories and plants, tools, means of production, goods and products,
stores, and so forth. All of these physical aspects of a culture help to define its members' behaviors and
perceptions. Everything that is created, produced, changed and utilized by men is included in the material
culture (Arcinas, 2016).

2. Non-material culture consists of intangible things (Banaag, 2012). Non material culture refers to the
nonphysical ideas that people have about their culture, including beliefs, values, rules, norms, morals,
language, organizations, and institutions. For instance, the non‐material cultural concept of religion consists of
a set of ideas and beliefs about God, worship, morals, and ethics. These beliefs, then, determine how the
culture responds to its religious topics, issues, and events. When considering non‐material culture, sociologists
refer to several processes that a culture uses to shape its members' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Four of
the most important of these are symbols, language, values, and norms. Non-material culture can be
categorized into cognitive and normative culture. The former includes ideas, concepts, philosophies, designs
etc. that are product of mental or intellectual functioning and reasoning of the human mind. Whereas, the latter
includes all expectations, standards and rules for human behavior (Arcinas, 2016).

Modes of Acquiring Culture

1. Imitation - Children and adults alike have the tendency to imitate the values, attitudes, language and all
other things in their social environment. Some of those things imitated are internalized in their personality and
become a part of their attitude, character and other behavioral patterns.
2. Indoctrination or Suggestion - This may take the form of formal training or informal teaching. Formally, the
person learns from school. Informally, he may acquire those behaviors from listening or watching, reading,
attending training activities or through interaction.
3. Conditioning - The values, beliefs, and attitudes of other people are acquired through conditioning. This
conditioning can be reinforced through reward and punishment.

Adaptation of Culture
1. Parallelism means that the same culture may take place in two or more different places.
Example: The domestication of dogs, cats, pigs and other animals may have semblance in other places
2. Diffusion refers to those behavioral patterns that pass back and forth from one culture to another. This is
the transfer or spread of culture traits from one another brought about by change agents such as people or
media
Examples: food and eating practices, marriage and wedding ceremonies, burial rituals, feast
celebrations
3. Convergence takes place when two or more cultures are fused or merged into one culture making it
different from the original culture.
4. Fission takes place when people break away from their original culture and start developing a different
culture of their own.
5. Acculturation refers to the process wherein individuals incorporate the behavioral patterns of other cultures
into their own either voluntarily or by force. Voluntary acculturation occurs through imitation, borrowing, or
personal contact with other people.
6. Assimilation occurs when the culture of a larger society is adopted by a smaller society, that smaller society
assumes some of the culture of the larger society or cost society.
7. Accommodation occurs when the larger society and smaller society are able to respect and tolerate each
other’s culture even if there is already a prolonged contact of each other’s culture.

Causes of Cultural Change

1. Discovery is the process of finding a new place or an object, artefact or anything that previously existed.
For example, the discovery of fire led to the art of cooking; discovery of oil, of organisms and substances; of
diseases; of atoms and sources of energy.
2. Invention implies a creative mental process of devising, creating and producing something new, novel or
original; and also, the utilization and combination of previously known elements to produce that an original or
novel product. It could be either social or material or it could also be invention of new methods or techniques.
Example of social invention: invention of number system, government, language, democracy, religion,
and alphabet Example of Material Invention: invention of the wheel, machines
3. Diffusion is 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. It involves
the following social processes:
a. Acculturation – cultural borrowing and cultural imitation
Example: The Filipinos are said to be the best English-speaking people of Asia.
b. Assimilation – the blending or fusion of two distinct cultures through long periods of interaction
Example: Americanization of Filipino immigrants to the US
c. Amalgamation – the biological or hereditary fusion of members of different societies
Example: Marriage between a Filipino and an American
d. Enculturation – the deliberate infusion of a new culture to another
Example: The teaching of American history and culture to the Filipinos during the early
American Regime
4. Colonization refers to the political, social, and political policy of establishing a colony which would be
subject to the rule or governance of the colonizing state. For example, the Hispanization of Filipino culture
when the Spaniards came and conquered the Philippines.
5. Rebellon and revolutionary movements aim to change the whole social order and replace the leadership.
The challenge the existing folkways and mores, and propose a new scheme of norms, values and organization

Ethnocentrism, Xenocentrism and Cultural Relativism as Orientations in Viewing Other Cultures

Cultural variation is the differences in social behaviors that different cultures exhibit around the world.
What may be considered good etiquette in one culture may be considered bad etiquette in another. In relation
to this, there are important perceptions on cultural variability: ethnocentrism, xenocentrism and cultural
relativism.
Ethnocentrism is a perception that arises from the fact that cultures differ and each culture defines
reality differently. This happens when judging another culture solely by the values and standards of one’s own
culture (Baleña, [Link],2016). This is the tendency to see and evaluate other cultures in terms of one’s own race,
nation or culture. This is the feeling or belief that one’s culture is better than the rest. Whereas, xenocentrism
is the opposite of ethnocentrism, the belief that one’s culture is inferior compared to others. People are highly
influenced by the culture or many culture outside the realm of their society. This could be one of the effects of
globalization. Exposure to cultural practices of others may make one individual or group of individuals to give
preference to the ideas, lifestyle and products of other culture.
Cultural relativism is an attempt to judge behavior according to its cultural context (Baleña,
[Link],2016). It is a principle that an individual person’s beliefs and activities should be understood by others in
terms of that individual’s own culture. This concept emphasizes the perspective that no culture is superior to
any other culture (Arcinas, 2016) because (a) different societies have different moral code; (b) the moral code
of a society determines what is right or wrong within the society; (c) there are no moral truths that hold for all
people at all times; (d) the moral code of our own society has no special status, it is but one among many; and
(e) it is arrogant for us to judge other cultures, so we have to be tolerant to them.

Other Important Terms Related to Culture

1. Cultural diversity refers the differentiation of culture all over the world which means there is no right or
wrong culture but there is appropriate culture for the need of a specific group of people.
2. Sub-culture refers to a smaller group within a larger culture.
3. Counterculture refers cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely accepted within a society
(example in the 1960”s counter culture among teenagers reflect long hair, blue jeans, peace sign, rock and roll
music and drug abuse).
4. Culture lag is experienced when some parts of the society do not change as fast as with other parts and
they are left behind
5. Culture shock is the inability to read meaning in one’s surroundings, feeling of lost and isolation, unsure to
act as a consequence of being outside the symbolic web of culture that binds others.
6. Ideal culture refers to the social patterns mandated by cultural values and norms.
7. Real culture refers to the actual patterns that only approximate cultural expectations.
8. High culture refers to the cultural patterns that distinguish a society’s elite
9. Popular culture refers to the cultural patterns that are widespread among a society’s population.
10. Culture change is the manner by which culture evolves.