When you think of American food, what comes to mind? You may think of, for example, hamburgers, french fries, or pizza. However, while pizza is now an incredibly important part of US food culture, with different iterations, e.g., New York-style or Chicago-style pizza, it was first introduced by Italian immigrants in the 19th century. It is an example of cultural change and diffusion.
In this article, we will look at cultural change and other related concepts. We will be focusing on the following:
- Concepts of culture
- Cultural universalism, cultural relativism, and culture shock
- The definition of cultural change
- Causes of cultural change
- Cultural diffusion, immigration, and cultural change
- Globalization and cultural change
- Generational gaps and cultural lag
- Cultural change in America
Concepts of Culture
Before we dive into concepts such as cultural universalism and cultural change, let's study some key terms that you will encounter when studying culture in sociology.
The artifacts or possessions of a group of people are referred to as material culture. It includes things like bus tokens, metro passes, and retail establishments, as well as places of worship and vehicles.
In contrast, nonmaterial culture refers to a society's ideas, attitudes, and values.
Material and non-material culture are linked, as the former often reflects the latter. A church, a material object, represents and reflects the non-material culture of its faith. Some links may be obvious, but when we encounter other parts of the world, we may not understand their material and non-material cultures.
A benefit of coming across different cultures is that we not only understand them better, but we can compare them with our own.
Cultural Universalism, Cultural Relativism, and Culture Shock
Have you ever experienced a moment when you realized your culture is fundamentally different from a friend's or acquaintance's?
Let's examine what we mean by cultural universalism and cultural relativism.
Cultural Universalism
According to cultural universalism, the principles, ideas, and actions that distinguish different cultures can be analyzed, comprehended, and evaluated by universal standards. Cultural universalists would argue, for instance, that all cultures should adhere to the same beliefs about what is right and wrong.
This is because they believe some things are common across all cultures. Cultural universals are patterns or characteristics shared by all societies on a global scale.
George Murdock initially became aware of cultural universals while researching various kinship systems. Murdock found that common human events like birth and death, disease and recovery, or acquiring food, clothing, and shelter are often at the center of cultural universals.
He discovered additional universals via his investigation, such as language, personal identities, and, intriguingly, jokes. An apparent universal method of releasing tension and fostering interpersonal harmony is humor (Murdock, 1949)!
Let's look at some examples of cultural universals.
The Family as a Cultural Universal
The family is one instance of a cultural universal; every human society acknowledges a family system that governs sexual reproduction and child-rearing. However, there are differences in how that family unit is conceived and managed.
In many Asian cultures, families from all generations frequently live together in one home. In these societies, adult children either stay and raise their nuclear family inside the extended family's household or marry and move into their spouse's family's household.
In contrast, Americans are supposed to leave home and live on their own for a while before establishing a family that comprises the parents and their children.
Ceremonies as a Cultural Universal
Funeral ceremonies, weddings, and birth celebrations are a few further cultural universals. However, the ceremonies may be viewed very differently in each culture.
Music as a Cultural Universal
Another example of cultural universals is music. Whether traditional and communal or influenced by contemporary popular culture, music is a common element within all cultures and can be used to convey a range of emotions transcending language and nationality.
In 2009, a group of psychologists at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences examined how listeners responded to unfamiliar music (Fritz et al. 2009).
When the research team visited the Mafa tribe in Cameroon, Africa, they made them listen to Western music, of which the tribe had no framework to understand since the tribe was cut off from Western culture. Nevertheless, the tribal members could distinguish between the three fundamental emotions of fear, sadness, and happiness as they listened to a piece of Western piano music. It turns out that music functions as a kind of universal language!
Fig. 1 - Families are a common unit in all societies, despite having different formations.
Cultural Relativism
Cultural relativism refers to the practice of judging a culture by its own norms as opposed to the standards of our own culture. It takes an open mind and a readiness to explore and even adapt to new values and standards to engage in cultural relativism.
An interesting example of this is arranged marriage. For many, the idea of marrying a person chosen by one's family for that purpose, often after only meeting them a couple of times, may seem absurd.
However, this is a common practice in South Asian cultures, and we can practice cultural relativism by realizing this and respecting the custom even if we would not engage in it ourselves.
It's not always possible to embrace all traditions of different cultures wholeheartedly, though.
Carrying on from the above example, even the most culturally tolerant individuals from egalitarian societies, in which women have political rights and autonomy over their lives, would doubt the legitimacy of practices such as forced marriage or child marriage, which are also a feature of some South Asian societies.
Culture Shock
When someone encounters an unusual way of life, they may feel disoriented and experience culture shock. Traveling abroad is frequently linked to culture shock, but it can also occur within one's own nation, state, or even hometown.
It can also be a result of ethnocentrism (explored below!)
The phrase "culture shock" is credited with being first used by anthropologist Kalervo Oberg in 1960. According to Oberg's research, most people initially find experiencing a new culture exciting. But gradually, their interactions with individuals from other cultures, who spoke other languages and had different regional slang, caused them to become anxious.
New meals needed to be adjusted to, daily routines needed to be adhered to, and etiquette guidelines had to be learned. People who experience this persistent tension may feel incompetent and insecure.
Oberg discovered that when people are frustrated by a new culture, they initially reject it and exalt (elevate) their own. Culture shock can last weeks or months, and it can take years to fully acclimate to living in a different culture. However, it is very possible to get over it and become very comfortable in a new culture, as countless people have done.
Almost anything can be a culture shock if you are not used to it, but some common examples are tipping culture and greetings in different countries.
- In the US, you are expected to tip when receiving a service, which may come as a shock to those from other countries where it is not standard.
- Conversely, when you greet people in Europe, you may often kiss them on their cheeks. In the US, though, it would probably be perceived as quite strange if you did this!
Ethnocentrism and Culture Shock
Culture shock is often a result of ethnocentrism. According to sociologist William Graham Sumner, who coined the term in 1906, ethnocentrism refers to the idea that one's own culture is superior to all others.
Nearly everyone is ethnocentric to a degree. For instance, Americans frequently claim that drivers from England use the "wrong" side of the road instead of the "other" side. You might find it strange that some cultures eat certain animals, while those from countries/cultures that practice vegetarianism might find eating meat in general shocking.
A high level of respect for one's own culture can be a good thing. However, ethnocentrism has the potential to lead to misinterpretation and can breed conflict with other cultures, as well as forcing one's own values on others.
Cultural Change: Definition
Culture is constantly changing. This does not always happen in an "obvious" way - developments in material culture have a domino effect on nonmaterial culture that does not always show immediately. When anything novel (like railroads or cellphones) creates new opportunities, and when new concepts are introduced into a culture, cultures evolve (e.g., as a result of travel or globalization).
Sociologists use the term "cultural change" to describe the type and scope of social change in society. It is important because it denotes changes to our ways of life, from our values to our interests and passions.
Examples of Cultural Change
Let's look at an example of cultural change that came about due to technological advancements.
The development of modern communication tools like mobile phones led to a shift in cultural norms. Phone conversations were no longer limited to being held in homes, offices, or phone booths. This caused some issues when people started to become irritated at others taking calls at any time. Clearly, cell phone usage would require specific etiquette - it was argued that people who are out in public should be aware of their environment and their companions.
Thanks to technology, there is also now a workaround to this problem: texting, which allows for discrete communication and has replaced calling as the primary method of on-the-go communication.
Causes of Cultural Change
There are three phenomena that cause cultural change in society: invention, discovery, and cultural diffusion. Let's look at each in turn.
Invention and Cultural Change
When something new is created from pre-existing objects or ideas—when things are put together in an altogether novel way—we call that an invention. The telephone, the airplane, and the computer are three examples of inventions that have significantly impacted our material culture and way of life. The minimum wage, racially-integrated schools, and women's shelters are all powerful components of nonmaterial culture.
Invention leads to cultural change by replacing traditional methods of doing things and interacting with others with new ones, or by enabling people to engage in previously unimaginable activities, inventions can impact culture. Their use may necessitate new norms for novel contexts, and their adoption reflects (and may affect) cultural values.
Discoveries and Cultural Change
A second factor contributing to cultural change is discovery, which involves discovering and comprehending something that was previously unknown but already exists, e.g. a different culture's cuisine or the political leadership abilities of women.
A broader example is the 'discovery' of America. Native American people were, of course, already familiar with the land when Christopher Columbus first arrived. However, Columbus' discovery provided new information to Europeans and paved the path for changes in both European cultures and the cultures of the newly found regions.
The introduction of new crops like potatoes and tomatoes altered the diet of Europeans. Additionally, the introduction of horses from Europe altered the hunting habits of Native American tribes in the Great Plains.
Cultural Diffusion, Immigration, and Cultural Change
Diffusion, or the transfer of cultural traits from one society to another, is the third cause of cultural change. Cultural diffusion has been occurring at an unprecedented rate thanks to modern travel and information technology. People can immigrate to different countries, work and vacation worldwide, and access international media and different cultures that they would never have otherwise.
This means that societies are now more culturally diverse than ever before, particularly in the case of the US. Communities from all corners of the world immigrate and settle in areas such as New York or California, bringing their cultural elements, such as cuisine and lifestyle, which then become a part of American culture.
It also means that people can incorporate elements of different cultures into everyday life. For instance, you can watch a French-language film, attend the world tour of a Korean pop group, eat at a Mexican restaurant, and join a friend's Diwali celebration, all while living in the US.
Fig. 2 - Food is one of the most prominent aspects of cultural diffusion.
Globalization and Diffusion
Unsurprisingly, cultural change has been significantly accelerated by globalization. Western governments started deregulating social services in the 1980s while allowing more freedom to private corporations. As a result, multinational corporations began to dominate global markets, which was a novel development at the time.
Since then, the integration of global commerce and finance markets has been referred to as globalization. This integration of global markets and technological advancements in recent decades has enabled increased cultural diffusion and exchange.
In addition to facilitating the flow of goods and people, improved communications and air travel have further expanded possibilities for international business relationships (Scheuerman 2014 (updated)). Many American businesses now have offices abroad where labor and resource expenses are lower. When someone from the US calls their bank or insurance company, the customer service representative can be employed in another nation.
Generation Gaps and Cultural Lag
Cultural change is not always uniformly spread across all structures and groups in society - there are generational gaps and cultural lag.
Generational gaps may result from rapidly rolled-out technological innovations, for example. A skeptic older generation will occasionally ignore technological innovations that become popular quickly with one generation. As a result, there will be a gap in the usage of such technology between older and younger generations.
Similarly, new cultural innovations can also cause cultural gaps. Technology can spread throughout society in months, while changing societal concepts and attitudes might take millennia. This is because material culture tends to develop more quickly than nonmaterial culture. The period of time between the introduction of a new piece of material culture and its acceptance as a component of nonmaterial culture is known as the "culture lag," according to sociologist William F. Ogburn (1957).
Cultural Change in America
Culture lag can result in real issues. This is evident when looking at cultural change in America.
The US' infrastructure, which was constructed at least a century ago, is having problems keeping up with the faster-paced and denser-populated lifestyle of today. However, there is a delay in conceptualizing answers to infrastructure-related issues. Traffic bottlenecks, rising fuel costs, and increased air pollution are all signs of cultural lag.
Even though more people are becoming aware of the negative effects of resource overuse, developing the necessary infrastructure takes time.
Cultural Change - Key takeaways
- The artifacts or possessions of a group of people are referred to as material culture. It includes things like bus tokens, metro passes, and retail establishments, as well as places of worship and vehicles. In contrast, nonmaterial culture refers to a society's ideas, attitudes, and values.
- According to cultural universalism, the principles, ideas, and actions that distinguish different cultures can be analyzed, comprehended, and evaluated by universal standards. Cultural relativism refers to the practice of judging a culture by its own norms as opposed to the standards of one's own culture.
- When someone encounters an unusual way of life, they may feel disoriented and experience culture shock.
- There are three phenomena that cause cultural change in society: invention, discovery, and cultural diffusion.
- Cultural change has been significantly accelerated by globalization and immigration. However, cultural change is not always uniformly spread across all structures and groups in society - there are generational gaps and cultural lag.
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