It is a

compound of
two Greek
Word
“Anthropos” Which can be
and “Logos” translated as ‘Human’
and ‘reason’

2
Anthropology – means “reason
about humans” or knowledge about
humans”

Social Anthropology would then

means knowledge about humans in
societies.

- Of course, cover the other social

sciences as well as anthropology.
3
Culture

- Derives from the

Latin “Colere” –
Cultivate, to settle, e.g.
agriculture,
horticulture

4
Cultural Anthropology
- Means ‘knowledge about cultivated
humans’. Knowledge about those
aspects of humanity which are not
natural, but which are related to that
which is
required

5
CULTURE SOCIETY

Acquired Social
cognitive organizati
symbolic LIFE on of
aspect of human
existence life

6
Culture comes in many
shapes and sizes. It
includes areas such as
politics, history, faith,
mentality, behavior
and lifestyle. The
examples above
demonstrate how a lack
of cultural sensitivity
led to failure.
7
 The are many definitions of the word
“Culture”
 Culture is developed within the individual as
well as the outside environment
 It is continually changing and dynamic
 Culture is reflected in communication
patterns
 Culture is way of acting, a way of behaving
 Culture is a collective phenomenon
 People who grow up in similar environment
tend to share common attitudes and behave
in similar ways
 Culture is not inherited, it is learned

8
 Culture is a complex whole which include knowledge,
belief, art, law, morals, custom and other capabilities
and habits acquired by man as a member of society
(Edward Taylor, 1958)

Culture is a complex whole that consists of all the ways we

think and do and everything we have as members of society
(Robert Bierstadt, 1974)

9
 Culture is what all human beings learn to do, to use,
to produce, to know, and to believe as they grow
to maturity and live out their lives in the social groups
to which they belong

Culture is the knowledge, language, values, customs

material objects that are passed from person to person
and from one generation to the next in a human group
or society

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 CULTURE
(according to Geert Hofstede)
The collective programming of the mind
that distinguishes the members of
one category of people from another

11
 Culture is not only the way we do things.
It is also our attitudes, thoughts,
expectations, goals and values. It is the
rules of our society – the norms that tell
us what is and what is not acceptable in
the society

 Culture can also be viewed from an

anthropological perspective, that is, in
its most traditional interpretation, such
as Aboriginal Culture

12
Material Culture – formed by the physical
objects that people create
 Cars, clothing, books, buildings, computers
 Archeologists refer to these items as artifacts

Non-material Culture – abstract human

creations (can’t touch it)
 Language, family patterns, work practices, political and
economic systems

13
 Better service to international guests
 Improved relations in the workplace
 Increased return in business
 Improved the industry and the
organization reputations
 Better service to local community

14
 Specific to Inherited &
Individual PERSONALITY Learned

Specific to CULTURELearn
Group or ed
Category
Unive HUMAN Inherit
rsal NATURE ed
15
 Visible
Components
Dress
Habits Tradition
Appearance Behaviors
Language
Hidden
Components
Assumptions Time Orientation
Personality Styles Values
Expectations Rules/Roles
Thought processes Space Orientation

16
 Functional: each culture has a function to
perform; its purpose is to provide
guidelines for behavior of a group of people
 Social Phenomenon: human beings
create culture; culture results from human
interaction and is unique to human society
 Prescriptive: culture prescribes (sets down
or imposes) rules of social behavior
 Learned: culture is not inherited; it is
learned from other members of the society
17
 Arbitrary: cultural practices and
behaviors are subject to judgment. Certain
behaviors are acceptable in one culture and
not acceptable in other culture
 Value Laden: culture provides values and
tells people what is right and wrong
 Facilitates Communication: culture
facilitates verbal and nonverbal
communication
 Adaptive/ Dynamic: culture is constantly
changing to adjust to new situation and
environment; it changes as society changes
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and develops
 Long Term: culture is developed
thousands of years ago and it was
accumulated by human beings in the
course of time and is the sum of
acquired experience and knowledge
 Satisfy Needs: culture helps to satisfy
the needs of the members of a society
by offering direction and guidance
(Source: Reisinger, 2003, p.14)

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 Dominant culture consists of several subcultures
 Subcultures can be based on race, ethnicity,
geographic region or economic or social class
 Race: a genetic or biological similarity among
people (Asians, Caucasians, etc.)
 Ethnicity: a wide variety of groups of people
who share a language, history and religion and
identify themselves with a common nation or
cultural system
 Geographical region: geographic differences
within countries or similarities between
countries
 Economic and social class: differences in the
socio-economic standing of people 20
 Each subculture community exhibits
characteristic patterns of behavior that
distinguish it from others within a parent
culture
 Each subculture provides its members
with a different set of values and
expectations as a result of regional
differences

21
 Sub cultures
indicate the form
of private social
interaction

SUB CULTURE
SUB CULTURE
DOMINANT CULTURE

Dominant culture directs

the form of public social 22
 Cultural Differences

Cultural Differences in
Communication
Cultural Differences
Cultural Differences in in Rules of Social
Social Categories Behavior

Cultural Differences in
Service

23
 Different patterns of verbal communication
 Language
 Phonology (differences in sound)
 Semantic (differences in meaning of words)
 Syntactics (differences in the sequence of the words
and their relationships to one another)
 Pragmatics (differences in effects of language on
perceptions)
 Paralanguage
 Intonation, laughing, crying, questioning

24
 Different patterns of non-verbal
communication
 Body movement (kinetics)
 Space and Touch: Use of personal space
(intimate, personal, social, public)
 Sense of Time
 Other non-verbal codes: clothing,
building, furnishing, jewelry, cosmetics,
skin and hair color, body shape

25
 Role, Status, Class, Hierarchy, Attitudes
towards human nature, Activity,
Relationships between individuals.

26
 Describing reasons and opinions
 Expressing dissatisfaction and criticism
 Joking, asking personal questions,
complimenting and complaining,
expressing dislike, showing warmth,
addressing people, apologizing,
expressing negative opinions and gift
giving

27
 Cultural differences on the interaction process
between a service provider and a visitor
Example: Chinese Hosts & American Tourists
 Chinese escorting their guests everywhere,
providing them with a tight itinerary and not
leaving an opportunity to experience the
Chinese life style privately. The Chinese hosts
believe they have provided their guests with
courtesy.
 American tourists may view such hospitality as
an intrusion and lack of trust.
28
 There are many dimensions of which
cultures differ
 Some of the dimensions (scope) are:
According to Hall, cultures can be
differentiated on the basis of orientation
towards:
 Human nature: agreements
 Activity orientation
 Human relationships: amount of space,
possessions, friendship, communication
 Relation to time: past/ future
29
 Space orientation: public/ private
 Hofstede (1980, 1984, 1991)
 Power distance (PD): interpersonal
relationship develop in hierarchical society
 Uncertainty Avoidance (UA): the degree to
which people feel threatened by ambiguous
situations
 Individualism-Collectivism (IC): the degree
to which individual goals and needs take
primary over group goals and needs
 Masculinity-Femininity (MF): the degree to
which people value work and achievement
VS quality of life and harmonious human
relations
30
 CULTURAL INTERACTION MODEL (PORTER AND SAMOVAR, 1988)

CULTURE A CULTURE B

text
text

text
text
text
tex
t

te
tx

tex
t

31
CULTURE C
 Differing shapes of the individual
represent the influence of different
cultures on an individual
 When an individual from Culture A
leaves its culture and reaches
Culture B, his or her behavior
changes because of the influence
of a culturally different society.
32
1. In your own words, briefly define the term
CULTURE
2. Write 3 hidden and 3 visible components of
culture
3. List 3 important benefits of a multicultural work
force?
4. What is subculture?
5. Explain cultural differences in communication
and service and give examples
33
 THE END

“CONCEPT OF
ANTHROPOLOGY
AND CULTURE”

for the
Subject Course
UNDERSTANDING
CULTURE
SOCIETY &
POLITICS

34