Summary
Summary Chapter 2: Culture and Nature
- Course
- Institution
Intense summary based on Social Psychology.
[Show more]
Seller
Followstudywithcaris
Content preview
Chapter 2: Culture and NatureNATURE, NURTURE AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
THE SOCIAL BRAIN
Evolutionary anthropologist: Robin Dunbar
Bigger brains were linked to having larger & more complex social groups.
Small-brained animals tend to live alone or in small, simple groups, whereas bigger-brained,
presumably, smarter animals have more relationships with each other & more complicated
groups.
People with bigger social networks have been found to be bigger in some key brain parts,
notably the orbital prefrontal cortex.
It evolved mainly to enable human beings to have rich, complex social lives.
CULTURE AND HUMAN SOCIAL LIFE
SOCIAL ANIMAL OR CULTURAL ANIMAL?
Elliot Aronson
By calling people social animals, these thinkers are saying that people seek connections to
others and prefer to live, work and play together with other people.
Humans = cultural animals
Evolution shaped human psyche so as to enable humans to create and take part in culture.
All humans use culture every day & depend on it for survival
o Culture = essence of what makes us human.
CULTURE DEFINED
Social scientists use the term to refer to what a large group of people have in common.
Important thing about culture:
Is that it is a kind of social system.
Culture = advanced way of being social.
, IMPORTAN FEATURES OF CULTURE:
SHARED IDEAS Culture enables you to interact with people you have never
met before.
Just because you belong to the same culture, you have
enough in common that you can do things together.
If culture is an important part of what humans involved to
do, then we would expect the human brain to be strongly
oriented toward shared ideas.
The human brain is aware of shared ideas.
Emotions intensified just by seeing something & knowing
that another member of your group is sharing the
experience.
CULTURE AS A SOCIAL Culture exists as a network linking many different people.
SYSTEM Culture connects many people together & exists in what
they share.
The problem with the idea of ‘network’ = it doesn’t
sufficiently capture the dynamic aspect of culture.
Culture never sits still.
Culture = system consisting of many moving parts that work
together.
CULTURE AS PRAXIS Praxis = practical ways of doing things.
Depends on shared ideas.
CULTURE, INFORMATION Culture = based on meaningful information.
& MEANING All cultures use language to encode & share information.
People act as they do because they process this
information.
People change their behaviour based on information they
get from culture.
As cultural animals, humans find meaning through
connecting with others.
NATURE & CULTURE INTERACTING
Nature & culture shapes each other
cultures classified along a spectrum:
Individualism Everyone takes care of him/herself & is free to choose how to act.
(low disease
environment)
Collectivism Maintaining relationships & getting along with others is more important than
doing what you want. Collectivistic cultures tend to be found in places with
many pathogens.
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller studywithcaris. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $2.77. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
53022 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now