What is culture?
Culture is the collective programming of the mind, distinguishing the members of one group or category of people from others.
One is born into a culture, and not with a given culture. You learn the norms of the culture and you gradually internalize the values, attitudes, and beliefs of the culture, and identifies with the culture.
Culture defines the social identity of a group.
Language can be a diffuser and stabilizer of culture.
When there is a common language between 2 countries or societies, it is easier to diffuse the cultural values from one to the other. But if outsiders do not know the language of a country or society, it’s culture can remain quite stable because it remains isolated from outside influences.
Religion can be a strong shaper of values and beliefs. It defines a lot of the “Dos and Don’ts” of a culture. It is at the core values of the believers, and is thus a strong stabilizing force of a culture.
Culture is transmitted in a variety of ways, but psychologists believe that by age ten, most children have their basic value systems firmly in place. Nonetheless, individual and societal values and customs constantly evolve in response to changing economic and social realities. Cultural change can be brought about by choice or imposition.
Change that is brought about by imposition is known as cultural imperialism. The introduction of certain elements of an outside culture may be referred to as creolization, or cultural diffusion.
Culture shock is a psychological state of disorientation and anxiety about not knowing how to behave appropriately in an unfamiliar culture, i.e. Culture shock is the disorientation and stress associated with being in a foreign environment.
When divergent cultures come in contact, cultural collision occurs.
Cultural diffusion occurs when contact among countries brings about cultural change.