Culture, Ethnicity, and Race

Culture

Culture can be understood as the traditions, customs, beliefs, values, norms, and perspectives that are learned through shared behavioral patterns and cultural practices passed down from generation to generation. Culture is learned implicitly, though it is the foundation for meanings we attribute to our perceptions and it influences how we describe events. At its most fundamental level, culture is reflected in the attitudes and behaviors that characterize a group of people who share implicit norms and rules. Unpacking these implicit norms and rules can be accomplished by investigating the primary components of culture: code, communication, and community. These primary components are interrelated in constructing culture. For example, a code is a system of rules, practices, and meanings for individuals in a specific culture. Thus, any code is conveyed through communication among individuals belonging to the same community—those individuals who demonstrate an affiliation with the implicit norms, rules, and beliefs of one's culture. Although often associated with ethnicity, culture can be defined on many different levels (such as by nationality, corporately, etc.). We exist as cultures within cultures.

The multifaceted nature of culture is expressed well by Edward T. Hall, who explained that every part of human existence is touched by or impacted by culture. Culture then influences behavior in the most subtle of ways, from how individuals express themselves to how individuals think, solve problems, and live their lives. Culture therefore influences what we pay attention to and what we ignore. For example, in some cultures, a person would not think twice about finding space on a crowded bus, whereas in other cultures an individual would probably wait for the next bus. Thus, each culture has its own understanding of its implicit norms for space and nonverbal communication, which are as unique as the norms for spoken language.

Researchers have identified many dimensions of culture to reveal the interconnection of code, communication, and community and how they perpetuate implicit norms, rules, and practices. Some of the primary dimensions of culture include high context and low context, individualism versus collectivism, time, logic, and space.