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, Undertanding Culture, Society,
and Politics, defined society as group of people who share a common territory snd
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 deerived 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 dependsn upon his parents and from
others. The care, support, and protection given by them are importnt
factors for survival.
b. Feeling of gregariousness – This is the desire of people to be with
other people, esecially 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 socioeconmic
classess. 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 socialy 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 members, especially to the young. the family, the peer
group, the school, the church and other government and nongovernment
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 needds 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 give 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 developement.
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 According to According to People’s
and Material System Evolutionary View Substinence
1. Pre-class Societies – 1.Simple Societies – 1.Food Gathering
They are characterized by These were Societies (more than
communal ownership of predominantly small, 16, 000 years ago) – The
property and division of nomadic and leadership people survived from day
labor. Examples of these is unstable. The people to day through hunting
societies are earliest had no specialization of larger animals, collecting
clans and tribes. skills,thus they lived in a shellfish and vegetable
simple life. gathering. Their tools
were made of stones,
wood and bones.

2.Asiatic Societies – The 2.Compound Societies – 2.Horticultural

people are economically Two or more simple Societies (12, 000 to 15,
self-sufficient but their societies merged to form 000 years ago) - The
leaders are despotic and a new and bigger society. people planted seeds as a
powerful. These societies tended to means of production for
be predominantly settled subsistence.
agriicultural societies and
tended to be
characterized by a
division of four or five
social classes.

3. Ancient Societies – 3. Doubly Compound 3. Pastoral Societies –

These are characterized Societies – These are Most of the people are
by private land completely integrated, nomadic who follow their
ownership. The rich more definite in political herds in quest of animals
(those who haves) owned and religious structure for food and clothing to
big tract of private and more complex satisfy their needs. they
properties while the poor division of labor. raised animals to provide
(those who-have-nots) Considerable progress in milk, fur and blood for
worked as laborers. Thus, infrastructure and protein. These societies
wealth is linited to a few knowledge in arts had typically are relatively small,
people. taken place. wandering communities
organized along male-
centered kinship groups.
4.Feudal Societies – The 4.Militant Societies – 4.Agricultural
aristocrats (feudal lords) These are characterized Societies – In the early
owned the wealth of the by the following: (a) the agricultural socieities,
country due to their existence of military people used plow than hoe
ownership of big tracts of organization and military in food production. By the
lands. The peasants rank; (b) individual lives use of plow, it turns the
workeed on the lands of and private possessions topsoil deeper allowing for
the feudal lords with only better aerating and
are at the disposal of the
few benefits received by dertilizing thus improving
State; and (c) individual
them. However, these better yield when harvested.
activities such as
types of societies Irrigation farming was
recreation, movements,
collapsed due to the rise introduced which reulted to
of cities and metropolis satisfaction of biological
a larger yield of production
as a result of the rise of needs, and production of that can even feed large
trades and industries. goods are totally number of people who did
regulated by the State. not know how to produce
In other words, food by themselves.
individuals exist to serve
the State.

5.Capitalists Societies – 5.Industrial Societies – 5.Industrial Societies

These societies existed in These socities are These societies began in the
societies where two characterized by the 18th century during the
classes of people following: (a) people elect Industrial Revolution and
appeared. The bourgeoise their representatives to gained momentum by the
(property owners) who protect their individual turn of the 19th century.
owned the capital and the initiatives; (b) freedom of This period is characterized
means of production and belief, religion, production by the use of machines as
the ploretariat (the of industrial goods exist; means of food production.
laborers or workers) who (c) disputes and Mass production of guns,
are compelled to work for grievances are settled invention of steam
the capitalists or sell their through peaceful locomotives and large
small properties to the arbitration; and (d) production of steel, and
capitalists. business organizations

appear where well-coordinated labor

cooperative efforts force took place. Thus, to
between management the people began
and labor are based on highly skilled and be
contractual agreement. diversiifieed in highly
In other words, occupation. their
individual freedom,
rights and initiatives are
being protected.
6.Democratic 6.Post-Industrial 6.Post-Industrial
Societies – These Societies – These are Socieities or
societies are characterizzed by: (a) Information Societies –
characterized by free spread of computer Information and
enterprise where people machines and existence communication
are free to engage in any of information and technology is the hallmark
lawful business for profit communication; (b) of these modern socieities.
or gain. People had to inventions and These are characterized by
work on their own discoveries in medicines, the spread of computer
livelihood accoeding to agriculture, business technology, advances in
what the law mandates. whether in physical and this technology are made
natural sciences by highly-trained computer
emerged; and (c) specialists who work to
pollution, diseases, increase the capabilities of
calamities are prevalent computers and internet.
as a result of the use of The use of modern
advanced technology. 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“ Socioloy: 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 environmen. – 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 From the Perspective of
Sociologists) Anthropologists
1. Dynamic, flexible and adaptive - 1. Learned
Culture necessarily changes, and is - Culture is learned, as each person
changed by, a variety of interactions, must learn how to “be” a member of that
with individuals, media, and culture
technology, just to name a few. - - Culture is acquired by being born
Cultures interact and change. Most into a particular society in the process of
societies interact with other societies, enculturation. Through language, the
and as a consequence their cultures cultural traits of society are passed on to
interact that lead to exchanges of younger members in the process of
material (ex: tools and furniture) and
growing up and through teaching. -
non-material (ex: ideas and symbols)
Every human generation potentially can
components of culture.
- All cultures change, or else, discover new things and invent better
they would have problems adjusting technologies. The new cultural skills and
and adapting to changing knowledge are added onto what was
environments. - Culture is adaptive learned in previous generations.
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 - Culture is symbloic, as it based
differentiation), as we share culture on the manipulation of symbols
with others, we are able to act in a - Culture renders meaning to what
appropriate ways as well as predict people do. Beliefs, religion, rituals,
how others will act. Despite the myths, dances, performances, music,
shared nature of culture, that doesn’t artworks, sense of taste, education,
mean that culture is homogenous (the innovations, identity, ethnicity, and so
same). on are meaningful human expressions of
- It may be challenged by the
what people do and how they act.
presence of other cultures and other
social forces in society like
modernization, industrialization, and
globalization.
3. Learned through 3. Systemic and integrated
socialization or enculturation - Culture is systemic and
- Culture is not biological, people do integrated as the parts of culture work
not inherit it but learned as interact in together in an integrated whole.
society. Much of learning culture is - The systems of meanings and
unconscious. People learn, absorb and many other facets (sides) of culture such
acquire culture from families, friends, as kindred, religion, economic activities,
institutions, and the media. The inheritance, and political process, do
process of learning culture is not function in isolation but an
integrated whole that makes society
enculturation.
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 - Culture is shared,
has the capacity to define and control as it offers
human behaviors. all people ideas about behavior
- Norms (for example) are - Since culture is shared within
cultural expectations in terms of how exclusive domains of social relations,
one will think, feel, or behave as set by societies operate differently from each
one’s culture. It sets the patterns in other leading for cultural variations.
terms of what is appropriate or Even culture is bounded, it does not
inappropriate in a given setting. mean that there are no variations in how
- Human interactions are guided people act and relate with each other
by some forms of standards and within a given system of their respective
expectations which in the end societies. On the contrary, the same
regularize it. society can be 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.
5. Transmitted through socialization 5. Encompassing
or enculturation - Culture covers every feature of
- As we share our culture with others, humanity. Around the world, people as
we are able to pass it on to the new members of their own societies establish
members of society or the younger connections with each other and form
generation in different ways. relationship guided by their respective
- In the process of socialization cultural practices and values.
/enculturation, we were able to teach - Edward Tylor defines culture as a
them about many things in life and complex whole which encompasses
equip them with the culturally beliefs, practices, traits, values,
acceptable ways of surviving, attitudes, laws, norms, artifacts,
competing, and making meaningful symbols, knowledge, and everything that
interaction with others in society. 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). It system of
words and symbols used to communicate with other people. We have a lot of
dialects in the Phillipines 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 (Davidand 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 influence people’s behavior and serve 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) hardwork 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 understones (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 behaviour (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 Englishspeaking
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

exhbit 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.
Etnocentrism 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, et.al,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 of other culture.

Cultural relativism is an attempt to judge behavior according to its cultural

context (Baleña, et.al,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 socieities 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.