ELEMENTS OF CULTURE

Culture is made up of many elements which are interrelated with each other and unified into A whole in
order for all its aspects to functions effectively.
1. Knowledge- the total range of what has been learned or perceived as true knowledge. This body
of information is accumulated through experience study or investigation.
Culture includes natural, technical, and magical knowledge

 Natural knowledge- refers to the accumulated facts about the natural world, including the
biological and physical aspect.
 Technical knowledge- knowledge of nature which are useful in dealing practical problems.
 Supernatural knowledge- refers to the perceptions about the action of Gods, goddesses,
demons, angels, or spirits and natural beings like witches or prophets about methods of
influencing supernatural events by manipulating certain laws of nature.
2. Social norms- an idea in the mind of the members of the group put into a statement specifying
what members of the group should do, ought to do or expected to do under certain
circumstances.
 The norms define task and expectation to make group activity and cooperation possible.
 They also influence the emotions and perceptions of individual.
 Like any aspect of culture, norms vary from society to society or fro group to group within a
society.
 It also differs according to age, sex, religion, occupation, or ethnic group.
 Folkways –are commonly known as customs, traditions and conventions of a society. - They
are the general rules customary and habitual ways and patterns given to the matter. - These
customary ways are accumulated and become repetitive patterns of expected behavior which
tend to be self-perpetuating.
Folkways include innumerable group expectations like rule of eating, drinking, smoking, dressing,
sleeping, dancing and working, forms of greetings and farewell, ceremonies and rituals, polite behavior,
and conduct in institutional settings.
 Mores – are special folkways which are important to the welfare of the people and their
cherished values. They are based on ethical and moral values which are strongly hold and
emphasized. They are social norms associated with strong feelings about what is right and what
is true.
Mores are coercive in nature as they are considered important to societal welfare. They embody the
code of ethics and standards of morality in a society. Most of the mores have been formulated into laws.
The Ten Commandments constitute an important source of mores. The Mores apply not to sex behavior
but also to marriage and family relations, physical and moral aggression against members of the in-
group, betrayal of group, attitudes toward authority, religion and the unfortunates in society, dealings
in business and the varied professions, and other vital matters which involve group welfare.
 Law –are formalized norms, enacted by people who are vested with government power and
enforced by political and legal authorities designated by the government. Some of the laws grew
out of the folkways and mores. They have strong support of public opinion and tend to reinforce
folkways and mores. Enforcement is hard when the laws do not reflect folkways and mores.
The need for increasing formulation of law becomes necessary with increasing social change and with
the migration of people. If laws are to be strong, society must search for their bases is folkways and the
mores.
If laws at the early stage draw weak or no moral support from the people, the government is obliged to
execute the law.
3. Values–are abstract concepts of what is important and worthwhile - are basis of judgment, of
what we consider good, desirable and correct as well as what is considered bad, undesirable, ugly and
wrong. This place a high value on love of GOD, honesty, fair play, cleanliness, and love of country.
They are the standards by which persons, individually are in groups, define their goals, select
alternatives and judge others as good or bad.emarks is made when the behavior of an individual is
considered undesirable and wrong
We place a high value on love of GOD, honesty, fair play, cleanliness, and love of country.
They are the standards by which persons, individually are in groups, define their goals, select
alternatives and judge others as good or bad.
Every culture has a basic set of values which make up its core. Values indicate the social conscience
internalized and integrated by the individual members of the society and the dominant values which
gives culture its unity, form and identity at a specific time.
Values depict how society changes and how they change as society changes. They basically direct people
on what, where, why, when, and how to choose. Data on values may be obtained through direct
observation on human behavior, conversation with person, and examination of indirect evidences like
aspirations, achievements, expenditures, aesthetic standards, literary interests, work efficiency rules,
ideals or technical skills, public opinion and, status symbols, system of rewards and punishment, and
other considerations.
4. Beliefs –embody people’s perceptions of reality and include the primitive ideas of the universe as
well as the scientist’s view of the world. They result from one’s experiences about the physical,
biological and social world in which the Individual lives. Beliefs such as superstations, and those that
relate to philosophy, theology, technology, art, and science are usually incorporated into the whole vast
body of knowledge which has been accumulated through time
5. Technology and Material Culture Technology refers to techniques and know-how in utilizing raw
materials to produce food, tools, shelter, clothing, means of transportations, and weapon. The material
objects that are products of technology are called artifacts. The extend and use of artifact on society’s
level of techonological development
Simple societies may just have stone tools, mortal and pestle, nipa huts or hand-woven clothes as their
artifacts.
On the other hand, complex societies, are equipped with computers, cellular phones, refrigerators,
nuclear weapons, spy satellites, jet planes, missile launchers, apparatuses to perform heart or kidney
transp-The quantity of artifacts provide clues to a society’s level of technological development.
-The perception among people is that cultures with low level of technological development are inferior
and nonprogressive and thus, are considered backward, while those with a high level of technology are
advanced and progressive.lant and other highly sophisticated gadgets.