3.3: Elements of Culture

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you should be able to:

• Differentiate values, beliefs, and norms
• Explain the concept of ideology
• Explain the significance of symbols and language to a culture
• Discuss the role of social control within culture

Values and Beliefs

The first, and perhaps most crucial, elements of culture we will discuss are values and beliefs. Cultural values are like ideals or principles that members of a culture hold in high regard, and that they use as standards or criteria for judging things as good or bad, beautiful or ugly, delicious or disgusting. Values are deeply embedded in a culture, and are critical for learning a culture’s beliefs, which are the tenets or statements that people consider to be true. Individuals in a society may have personal beliefs and values, but they also share collective ones. To illustrate the difference: U.S. citizens may subscribe to the American Dream - the belief that anyone who works hard and makes smart decisions with their money will be successful and wealthy. Connected to this belief is the American value that wealth is important. In other cultures, success may be tied less to wealth and more to something else, like having many children for example. So values and beliefs shape a society by suggesting what is good and bad, wise and foolish, to be sought or to be avoided.

Consider the value that the U.S. places upon youth. Children represent innocence and purity, while a youthful adult appearance signifies sexuality. Old age is viewed by many is something to be avoided as long as possible. Shaped by this value, Americans spend billions of dollars each year on cosmetic products and surgeries to look young and beautiful. The U.S. also has an individualistic culture, meaning people place a high value on individuality, independence, and free expression. In contrast, many other cultures are collectivist, meaning the welfare of the group takes priority over that of the individual, and people are expected to conform to the same standards. Fulfilling a society’s values can be difficult, because cultural systems are not bound by logical requirements for consistency. Marital monogamy is valued, but many spouses engage in infidelity. Equal opportunity for all people is a valued in the U.S., yet the country has high levels of prejudice and discrimination. Americans value liberty, but also security.

Values often suggest how people should behave, but they don’t necessarily reflect how people actually do behave. Values portray an ideal culture, the standards society would like to embrace and aspires to live up to. But ideal culture differs from real culture. In an ideal culture, there would be no traffic accidents, murders, poverty, or racial tension. But in real culture, lawmakers, educators, police officers, and social workers constantly strive to prevent or address these social problems. American teenagers are encouraged to value celibacy. However, the number of unplanned pregnancies among teens reveals that the ideal alone is not enough to spare teenagers the potential consequences of having sex.

One of the ways societies strive to maintain their values is through a system of sanctions, or rewards and punishments. When people observe the norms of society and uphold its values, they are often rewarded. A boy who helps an elderly woman cross the street may receive a smile and a “thank you.” That is a social reward, an expression of approval for his behavior, just as a business manager who raises profit margins may receive a quarterly bonus. People sanction unwanted or inappropriate behaviors by withholding support, expressing disapproval, or by implementing punishments. Sanctions can be rewards or punishments, but both are forms of social control, or ways society has to encourage us to conform to cultural norms, which are behavioral expectations or rules. Sometimes people conform to norms in anticipation of positive sanctions. Studying and doing your homework, for instance, may lead to not only good grades, but also praise from parents and teachers. Sanctions can also be negative - a boy who shoves an elderly woman aside to board the bus first may receive frowns or even a scolding from other passengers. A business manager who drives away customers will likely be fired. Breaking norms and rejecting values can lead to cultural sanctions such as earning a negative moral label like ‘lazy,’ or even to legal sanctions, such as traffic tickets, fines, or imprisonment. Effective social control mechanisms encourage most people to conform regardless of whether actual authority figures are present.

Values are not static. They often change over time as people debate, evaluate, and change their collective social beliefs. Values also vary from one culture to another. For example, cultures differ in their values about what kinds of physical closeness are appropriate in public. It’s rare to see two male friends or coworkers holding hands in the U.S. where that behavior often symbolizes romantic feelings. But in many nations, masculine physical intimacy is considered natural in public. This difference in cultural values came to light when people reacted to photos of former president G.W. Bush holding hands with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia in 2005. Simple gestures, such as hand-holding, carry great symbolic differences across cultures.

Figure 3.5 In many parts of Africa and the Middle East, it is considered normal for men to hold hands in friendship. How would US citizens react to these two soldiers? (Credit: Geordie Mott/Wikimedia Commons)

Ideology

While values and beliefs are the building blocks of culture, they often cluster together into more complex structures known as an ideologies. An ideology is a coordinated system of beliefs and values that shapes how people interpret facts and justify the use of power. Being in a system together means that the particular values and beliefs in question are inter-dependent, not separate and independent elements that can each be considered in isolation, but inter-related and connected like parts in a machine that depend on one other to function together (like if one gear turns in a mechanical system, that puts pressure on the next causing it to turn as well).  An ideological system of beliefs and values acts like a lens, filtering our perceptions so that certain social arrangements—like who gets to make the laws, or who owns the most property—seem natural, right, or even inevitable.

Ideology is powerful because it both constrains and legitimates political authority. For example, in a society dominated by an ideology of meritocracy, people might interpret the problem of poverty not as a failure of the economic system, but as a lack of individual effort. This interpretation then legitimates the power and status of the wealthy, as their status is assumed to be "earned" through merit, rather than the result of privileges that may be obscured by the ideological lens. In this way, ideology isn't just a set of ideas - it’s a tool that social groups use to compete for influence and/or maintain their position in the social hierarchy.

Because ideologies are so deeply embedded, they often feel like common sense. However, they are never static. As we will see later in this chapter, competing ideologies rise, fall, and mutate as material conditions evolve and social movements challenge the status quo. Tracing the development of these systems reveals the ongoing tension between a culture’s aspirational ideals—like freedom and equality—and the gritty realities of power and exclusion. 

Norms

So far, many of the examples in this chapter have described how people are expected to behave in certain situations—for example, buying food or boarding a bus. These examples describe the visible and invisible rules of conduct through which societies are structured, or what sociologists call norms. Norms are learned behaviors that reflect compliance with cultural beliefs and values. Most members of any society adhere to them.

Formal norms are the established, written rules in any society. They support and define many social institutions, such as the military, criminal justice and healthcare systems, and public schools. Functionalists may analyze what purpose these norms serve, conflict theorists might examine who creates, benefits, and suffers under these rules, and symbolic interactionists like to consider how norms shape the way a group interacts. Laws are formal norms, but so are employee manuals, college entrance exam requirements, and “no running” signs at swimming pools. Formal norms are the most specific and clearly stated of the various types of norms, and they are usually the most strictly enforced - but they are enforced to varying degrees.  For example, private property is a key value in America.  Thieves can be fined, imprisoned, or both. People safeguard valuable possessions by locking their doors, buying a safe, and installing alarm systems on homes and cars. A less strictly enforced social norm is driving while intoxicated. While it’s against the law to drive drunk, drinking alcohol is for the most part an acceptable social behavior. And though there are laws to punish drunk driving, they vary from state to state, and are much more lenient in places like Wisconsin where there is a long-established drinking culture.

There are plenty of formal norms, but the list of informal norms or "unwritten" social rules is even longer.  People learn informal norms by observation, imitation, and general socialization. Some informal norms are taught directly— “Kiss your Aunt Edna” or “Use your napkin”—while others are learned by observation, including noticing the consequences when someone else violates a norm. Informal norms dictate appropriate behaviors without the need of written rules, and so may be difficult to learn when you are new to, or not familiar with, a culture.

Although informal norms shape most of our personal interactions, they extend into other systems as well. In the U.S. for example, there are informal norms regarding behavior at fast food restaurants. Customers line up to order their food, and leave when they are done. They don’t sit down at a table with strangers, sing loudly as they prepare their condiments, or nap in a booth. Most people don’t commit even harmless breaches of informal norms like that.

Sociological Research

 

Breaching Experiments

Sociologist Harold Garfinkel (1917–2011) studied people’s customs in order to find out how societal rules and norms not only influence behavior but also shape social order. He believed that members of society together create a social order (Weber, 2011). His resulting book, Studies in Ethno-methodology (1967) discusses people’s assumptions about the social makeup of their communities.

One of Garfinkel’s research methods was known as a “breaching experiment,” in which the researcher intentionally behaves in a socially awkward manner in order to test the sociological concepts of social norms and conformity. Much like a nuclear physicist might smash open an atom to see what it is made out of, Garfinkel reasoned that he could break norms in order to better understand their nature. He would use people who were not aware an experiment was in progress, but observe their responses to the "breached" norm. For example, if the experimenter was, say, a man in a business suit, and he skipped down the sidewalk or hopped on one foot, a passerby might be likely to stare at him with a surprised expression. But the experimenter does not simply “act weird” in public, and does not break any formal norms like laws, or do anything that could harm or traumatize anyone. Rather, the point is to deviate from a specific social norm in a subtle way, to just slightly deviate from some rule of social etiquette, and see what happens. 

For example, he set up a simple game of tic-tac-toe. One player was asked beforehand to mark Xs and Os not in the boxes, but on the lines dividing the spaces instead. The other player, unaware of the experiment, was flabbergasted and did not know how to continue. The second player’s outrage,  puzzlement, indignation, or other emotion was the evidence that an unspoken behavioral expectation (a cultural norm) had been violated.

There are many rules about speaking with strangers in public. It is okay to tell a woman you like her shoes. It is not okay to ask if you can try them on. It is okay to stand in line behind someone at the ATM. It is not okay to look over his shoulder as he makes a transaction. It is okay to sit beside someone on a crowded bus. It’s weird to sit right next to a stranger in a half-empty bus.

For some breaches, the researcher directly engages with innocent bystanders. An experimenter might strike up a conversation in a public bathroom, where it’s common to respect each other’s privacy. In a grocery store, an experimenter might take a food item out of another person’s grocery cart, saying, “That looks good! I think I’ll try it.” An experimenter might sit down at a table with others in a fast-food restaurant or follow someone around a museum and study the same paintings. In those cases, the bystanders are pressured to respond, and their discomfort illustrates how much we depend on social norms. Breaching experiments uncover and explore the many unwritten social rules we live by.

Norms may be further classified as either mores or folkways. Mores (pronounced like mor-ays) are norms that are connected to the moral views or ethical principles of a group. They might have a religious foundation. Violating them can be seen as immoral, wrong, or even evil, which can have serious consequences. The strongest mores are protected with laws and other formal sanctions. In most societies, for instance, homicide is considered extremely immoral, and it’s punishable by law (a formal norm). But more often, mores are judged and guarded by public sentiment (an informal norm). People who violate mores are seen as shameful, lazy, foolish, greedy, violent, and so on. They can even be shunned or banned from some groups as a type of negative sanction.

Unlike mores, folkways are norms without any moral underpinnings. Rather, folkways direct appropriate behavior in the day-to-day practices and expressions of a culture. We can think of them as unwritten rules of etiquette or politeness, proper behavior, or showing good manners.  Violating these norms doesn't mean you will be judged as evil or immoral, but it might get you labeled as rude, low-class, or having bad manners.  Folkways indicate whether to shake hands or kiss on the cheek when greeting another person. They specify whether to wear a tie and blazer, or a T-shirt and sandals to an event. In Canada, women can smile and say hello to men on the street, but in Egypt, that’s not considered appropriate. In regions in the southern U.S., bumping into an acquaintance means stopping to chat. It’s considered rude not to, no matter how busy one is. In other regions, people guard their privacy and value time efficiency - a simple nod of the head is enough, and interrupting someone just to chat might be seen as rude. Other accepted folkways in the U.S. may include holding the door open for a stranger, or giving someone a gift on their birthday.

Folkways are actions that people generally take for granted. People often need to act automatically, without thinking through every single detail of every social interaction, in order to just through their daily routines. We can’t stop and analyze every action (Sumner, 1906). Folkways might be small actions, learned by observation and imitated, but they are by no means trivial. The rules regarding these folkways may change from culture to culture - the very same behavior might be polite in one culture, and extremely rude in another. While the sanctions for violating them may not be fines and imprisonment, they can include a serious loss of social status if the surrounding group of people expresses too much disapproval.

Symbols and Culture

Humans, consciously and subconsciously, are always striving to make sense of their surrounding world. Symbols—such as gestures, signs, objects, signals, and words—help people understand that world. They provide communication methods to understanding experiences by conveying recognizable meanings that are shared by societies.

The world is filled with symbols. Sports uniforms, company logos, and traffic signs are symbols. In some cultures, a gold ring is a symbol of marriage. Some symbols are highly functional; stop signs, for instance, provide useful instruction. As physical objects, they belong to material culture, but because they function as symbols, they also convey nonmaterial cultural meanings. Some symbols are valuable only in what they represent. Trophies, blue ribbons, or gold medals, for example, represent accomplishments. But many objects have both material and nonmaterial symbolic value.

Figure 3.6 Some road signs are universal. But how would you interpret the signage on the right? (Credit: (a) Andrew Bain/flickr; (b) HonzaSoukup/flickr)

Symbols often get noticed when they are out of context. Used unconventionally, they convey strong messages. A stop sign placed on the door of a college building makes a political statement, as does a camouflage military jacket worn in an antiwar protest. Together, the semaphore signals for “N” and “D” represent nuclear disarmament—and form the well-known peace sign (Westcott, 2008). Some college students wear pajamas and bedroom slippers to class, clothing that was formerly associated only with privacy and bedtime. By wearing the outfit, students are defying traditional cultural norms.

Some symbols represent only one side of the story and elicit strong emotions, which can lead to social unrest. Their presence is a reminder of a nation’s worst times and not something to celebrate. Many of these symbols are targets of vandalism as the destruction of these representations is symbolic. Effigies representing public figures are burned to demonstrate anger at certain leaders. In 1989, crowds tore down the Berlin Wall, a decades-old symbol of the division between East and West Germany, communism, and capitalism. In the U.S. beginning in 2019, statues associated with slavery and the Civil War were removed from state capitols, college campuses, and public parks. In Germany, any display of Hitler or Nazi memorabilia or to deny the Holocaust is illegal.

While different cultures have varying systems of symbols, one system is common to all: language. Whatever its form, people learn social and cultural norms through it.

Social Policy and Debate

 

Is the U.S. Bilingual?

When she was six, Lucy and her family immigrated to the United States and attended a school that allowed for the use of both English and Spanish. Lucy’s teacher and many staff were bilingual (fluent in English and Spanish), and the district offered books in both languages. While she was being driven to learn English, the dual-language option helped to ensure that she did not become lost and get behind in her learning of all subjects. Having math, science, and computing taught in both languages helped her understand those concepts and skills. Within two years of enrolling in the school, Lucy was getting nearly all of her instruction in English, and rarely used the Spanish-language books or resources. While she still had trouble with some intricacies of English, her math progress was above grade level and she did well in other subjects as well.

Some people might believe that Lucy would have learned faster had she been instructed only in English. But research indicates that is not the case. Johns Hopkins University researchers conducted a series of studies on the effects of bilingual education across multiple subjects (Slavin et al. 2008). They found that students taught in both their native tongue and English make better progress than those taught only in English.

Legally, the U.S. only recently took on an official language, English, in 2025, after many decades of debate.  Some believe English to be the rightful language of the U.S., and over thirty states had already passed laws specifying English as their official state language. Proponents of English-only laws suggest that a national ruling will save money on translation, printing, and human resource costs, including funding for bilingual teachers. They argue that setting English as the official language will encourage non-English speakers to learn English faster and adapt to the culture of the U.S. more easily (Mount 2010). Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have opposed making English the official language, and claim that it violates the rights of non-English speakers. English-only laws, they believe, deny the reality of our nation’s diversity and unfairly target non-English speakers. They point to the fact that much of the debate on this topic has risen since 1970, a period during which the U.S. has experienced new waves of immigration from Asia and Mexico.

Today, a lot of product information gets written in multiple languages. Enter a store like Home Depot and you’ll find signs in both English and Spanish. Buy a children’s product and the safety warnings could be presented in quite a few languages. While marketers are financially motivated to reach the largest number of consumers possible, this trend also may help people become accustomed to a culture of bilingualism.

Studies show that most US immigrants eventually abandon their native tongues and become fluent in English. Bilingual education helps with that transition. Today, Lucy is an ambitious and high-achieving college student. Fluent in both English and Spanish, Lucy is studying law enforcement—a field that seeks bilingual employees. The same bilingualism that contributed to her success in grade school will help her thrive professionally as a law officer serving her community.

Figure 3.7 Many signs—on streets and in stores—include both English and Spanish. What effect does this have on members of society? What effect does it have on our culture? (Credit: istolethetv/flickr)