Culture consists of implicit and explicit patterns of behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols and their embodiments in artifacts. The essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e., historically derived and selected) ideas and their attached values. Culture systems may be considered as products of action and conditioning elements of further action. A. L. Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn collected and analyzed several hundred definitions of culture and arrived at this definition, which the authors believed would be acceptable by most social scientists: Culture is one of the most important concepts in 20th-century social sciences. A reflective look at the way the concept of culture is used would be enlightening because different disciplines and schools of thoughts have their own definitions and there is no common understanding. In addition, understanding the issues of cultural unity and diversity has increasingly become relevant in our daily lives.
Historical Perspective
克罗伯(Kroeber)和克鲁克(Kluckhohn)的定义代表了美国人类学家和社会科学家在1940年代和1950年代所说的文化的摘要。与这种定义相反,在1920年代和1930年代,文化被简单地定义为“学到的行为”。然而,克罗伯和克鲁克霍恩认为,尽管文化的概念是基于对行为和行为产物的研究,但文化不能仅被概念化为行为或行为的研究。取而代之的是,文化的一部分由行为或标准的规范组成,另一部分由意识形态组成,证明或合理化某些行为方式。最后,每种文化都包含有关行为的选择性和顺序(“最高共同因素”)的广泛一般原则。
文化的定义
The word culture originates in Middle English (“a cultivated piece of land”) from the French word culture and from the Latin verb culturare (“to cultivate”). All versions of the word ultimately come from the early Latin colere (“to till or cultivate the ground”). A review of overarching themes and patterns in definitions of culture in various disciplines might be beneficial to our understanding of culture. Each theme has its own strengths and weaknesses, and there are inevitable overlapping and interpenetrating relationships between and among themes.
可以列出七种类型或文化定义的主题:
- 结构/模式:根据元素的系统或框架(例如思想,行为,符号或这些或其他元素的任何组合)来看文化的定义
- Function: Definitions that see culture as a tool for achieving some end
- Process:着重于持续的文化社会建构的定义
- 产品:根据文物的定义(有或没有故意象征意图)的文化定义
- 精致: Definitions that frame culture as a sense of individual or group cultivation to higher intellect or morality
- Power or ideology:关注基于群体的力量的定义(包括后现代和后殖民定义)
- Group membership:定义以某个地点或人群或属于该地点或群体的关注的定义。
Culture and Psychological Processes
Theories explaining culture from a perspective of psychological processes contribute to the understanding of the processes through which specific individuals’ actions and behaviors influence the actions and behaviors of others and become norms, customs, and rituals. They help to explain how the specific clusters of thoughts and action can become commonly shared among some populations but not others. Biological foundations, motivational systems, affective/emotional systems, cognitive/communication systems, and linguistic perspective will be presented as five of the examples of psychological theories.
根据生物基础方法,认知机制的生物基础产生了培养的各个方面。在生物基础方法中,可以审查两种观点:进化和神经系统。进化观点表明,人类可能特别有可能传达具有与生存和繁殖有关的情感内容的信息。因此,暗示这些情感状态的知识结构可能会在文化上共享。
The neurological foundation tradition emphasizes the coevolution of psychological and cultural phenomena. The main idea of coevolution is that human beings evolved to be cultural. Human beings are evolutionarily shaped and genetically predisposed to seize and make use of cultural resources available in their local environments. Another neurological foundation of culture is “plasticity.” Completely preprogrammed development is neither adaptive nor efficient. Instead, human ontogeny entails a built-in reliance on environmental patterns for species-typical development. This plasticity, or reliance on environmental patterns, provides a window for the cultural shaping of the human development. Another neurological foundation of culture, the notion of sensitive period, is defined as the ability to experience certain cultural patterns (e.g., tendencies of phoneme discrimination, visual perception, and culture-specific emotions) during a sensitive period of development. In other words, human beings are exposed to certain cultural patterns during a sensitive period of their development, and this early shaping of experience may make later shaping by other cultures more difficult.
According to the motivational systems approach, there is an existential need to make sense of big questions such as the meaning of life. Another motivational foundation is an epistemic need to make sense of day-to-day reality. Reality is often multiple and ambiguous, and people require culture, social influence with a historical and material dimension, to help define reality. A specific case of this need is observed in interpersonal communication, where people are motivated to engage in a micro-level form of cultural process, the production of common ground.
恐怖管理理论是动机系统方法的一个例子,它建议文化成为一种心理缓冲,以抵抗由于我们自身死亡的意识而产生的生存焦虑。文化通过提供宇宙的概念(文化世界观)来最大程度地限制焦虑,从而充满了秩序,意义和永久性。文化还提供了一系列有价值的行为标准,如果满足,则为个人提供自尊。文化是一种缓冲,因为许多文化信仰和行为都提供了象征性的永生(例如,死后的生活,以祖父母的身份命名儿童)。此外,文化提供了一组规则,标准和原则,可以根据这些规则,标准和原则,可以判断一个人是一个可以接受的人或好人。恐怖管理理论提出的广泛假设之一是,对自己死亡率的意识导致捍卫自己的文化世界观的尝试加强。例如,一项研究表明,死亡率显着性增加了替代文化世界观的贬损和对违反文化规则的个人的惩罚。
情感/情感系统方法使用情感/情感作为文化的基础。文化的情感基础是情感首要地位的概念,该概念被定义为日常世界的直接,自动塑造情绪,感觉和偏好。在吸引文化世界的过程中,人们通常很可能会不知不觉地对实践或人工制品收取情感指控。例如,沉浸在吃猪肉禁忌的文化中,人们可能会对烹饪猪肉产品的思想或气味感到厌恶。
The cognitive/communication systems approach can be represented by Bibb Latane’s dynamic social impact theory (DSIT). This theory adopts a theory of social influence to explain how cultures develop and change over time. It assumes that people influence and are influenced by others through the process of communication, which is defined as any type of social exchange of information. DSIT posits that influence will occur whenever groups of people interact on social attributes. Three factors—strength, immediacy, and number—are the basis of social influence. Strength is defined as individual differences in supportiveness or persuasiveness. Some people are more attractive, richer, or more educated than others; consequently, these characteristics may lead them to have a stronger influence on others around them. Immediacy includes proximity in physical or social space. Finally, social impact depends on the number of other individuals who share a particular attitude. The more people who agree with our opinions, the less likely we will be able to change them. In short, people are more influenced by persuasive, close, and numerous others.
To explain the creation and continuation of culture, DSIT uses concepts of clustering and correlation to explain how cultures are formed and consolidation and continuing diversity to address temporal change in cultures. Clustering represents the fact that as people are influenced by those in their local area, pockets of shared opinions will form, leading to regional differences.
DSIT posits that communication will lead to spatial clustering of attributes. In other words, over time, people will be increasingly likely to share similar attitudes with those living close to them. A second prediction of DSIT is that attitudes that are originally unrelated across individuals within a group will become increasingly correlated over time. Finally, DSIT predicts that attributes will consolidate or decrease in diversity, as people influence each other over time. Although consolidation leads to majority influence and majority sizes will tend to increase, the diversity will continue to exist.
Finally, linguistic perspective links culture to static features of languages. Language determines each culture by representing reality in a particular manner. Thus, every language is a vast pattern system with culturally ordained forms and categories. Through language, human beings communicate, analyze nature, notice or neglect types of relationships and things, channel their reasoning, and build consciousness. This theory posits that use of language in human interaction may play an important role in the evolution and maintenance of cultural representations. The theory has four main assumptions:
- Language is a carrier of cultural meanings.
- 当语言用于人际交流时,就会引起文化含义。
- The use of language in communication will increase the accessibility of existing shared representations in the culture. In addition, through communication, private idiosyncratic representations will be transformed into publicly shared representations, which in turn form the cognitive foundations of culture.
- 然后,进化和共享表示形式将被编码为语言,并且周期继续进行。
In sum, biological, motivational, affective/ emotional, cognitive, and linguistic theories contribute to the understanding of culture and help explain how specific clusters of thoughts and action can become commonly shared among some populations but not others. Next, concepts of cultural worldview and cultural values of several groups are discussed.
Cultural Values
文化价值的特征是对文化群体成员很重要的维度,随后可能指导其规范和行为。研究人员指出,给定文化群体的文化价值指导该群体的成员找到解决常见人类问题的解决方案。因此,有人认为,如果要充分理解任何文化群体的独特性,则必须对文化价值进行分析。
文化群体之间文化价值的差异
Overall, many studies examining racial/ethnic groups compared with White culture in the United States report differences. In general, it has been found that racial/ethnic and immigrant groups are characterized by activity that places an emphasis on spontaneous self-expression of emotions, desires, and impulses; collateral social relationships or relationships whose individual goals are subordinate to group goals; and subjugation to nature and present time. In contrast, research demonstrates that White cultural groups are characterized by social relationships that are individualistic, view action and spontaneity as more important than self-control, strive for mastery over nature, and have a time orientation that is focused on the future.
尽管种族/族裔和移民群体可能会认可相似的价值取向,但它们对相同的价值取向具有不同的含义,并且在为什么这些价值取向对其特定文化群体很重要的原因可能有所不同。研究人员已经开始研究种族/族裔群体的特定文化价值,以更清楚地了解不同群体的这些价值观。
Asians
在亚洲人中,由于种族,移民或世代的地位,同化,培养,宗教,社会经济地位,教育水平和政治气候,由于种族,移民或世代的地位,同化,培养,宗教,宗教,社会经济地位,教育水平和政治氛围而存在显着差异。但是,许多亚洲文化群体共有的价值观包括强调关系的和谐,情感约束,团体利益优先于个人利益,大家庭的重要性,对权威的尊重,对父母的服从和尊重,强调辛勤工作,重要性,重要性实现义务,并具有高度的教育价值。此外,家庭通常是父权制,家庭成员之间的关系可能得到很好的定义,经常受到尊重和照顾,并且个人的行为可能反映出整个家庭。
Researchers have identified six Asian cultural values: collectivism, conformity to norms, emotional self-control, family recognition through achievement, filial piety, and humility. Saving face is another cultural value, which is reflected in indirect communication styles being more desirable.
African Americans
African Americans’ sense of self and cultural traditions have been derived from various cultural and philosophical principles shared with West African tribes. Researchers also state that people of African ancestry continue to maintain cultural connections to these traditions. In addition, an African-centered world-view provides important information around which African Americans build their beliefs. These include the beliefs that there is a spiritual essence that permeates everything, everything in the world is interconnected with the principle of consubstantiation or the sense that everything within the universe is connected as a part of a whole, and that the collective is the most important element of existence. In addition, Afrocentricity also includes the beliefs that self-knowledge is assumed to be the foundation of all knowledge.
此外,非裔美国人重视家庭,不仅包括血液亲戚,而且包括大家庭和虚构的亲戚。其他价值观包括共存的精神,与教会保持牢固的联系,作为自助的手段,当前的时间取向,较少强调细节,与自然的和谐,与他人的附带关系以及包括身体在内的沟通方式除了口头交流外,运动,姿势,手势和面部表情。尽管经历了艰辛,但非裔美国人也表现出毅力,宽恕和韧性。
欧美人
欧美人consist of various cultural groups that descend from European countries. Among the cultural values that have been identified for European Americans is individualism, which stresses independence and autonomy. Additionally, researchers have identified an importance on productivity, rigid time orientation, and a focus on the nuclear family. For the most part, these cultural values differentiate this cultural group from others in that importance is placed on the individual rather than the group.
Latlnos/as
拉丁裔/A群体之间的多样性存在于地理,原产国,种族,阶级,传统,适应以及历史和社会政治环境中。但是,已经确定了一些共同的文化价值,用于拉丁美洲人/AS;其中包括Familismo,Personalismo,Simpatia,Respeto和Si Dios Quiere(如果是上帝的旨意)。Familismo指的是强烈的家庭取向,因为拉丁美洲人/作为价值的亲密关系,凝聚力和相互依存关系以及家庭成员之间的合作。
The value of personalismo refers to valuing and building interpersonal relationships and the importance of warm, friendly, and personal relationships. This describes the orientation that Latinos/as have toward people rather than toward impersonal relationships. Simpatia also demonstrates this orientation that emphasizes harmonious interpersonal interactions. Respeto demonstrates the importance of interpersonal harmony, which governs all positive interpersonal relationships and dictates the appropriate deferential behavior toward others on the basis of age, socioeconomic position, sex, and authority status.
Si dios quiere(如果是上帝的旨意)描述了宿命论的价值,这表明拉丁裔/无法控制上帝的意愿。考虑到拉丁裔/通常会提及他们对更高力量的信念,这是有意义的。
此外,在拉丁美洲人/作为合作很重要的是,文化自豪感是重要的,家庭结构是分层的,对长者和男性的尊重是尊重的,并且遵守家庭角色很重要。拉丁裔/也相信思想与身体之间的整体联系,渗透到他们的健康和疾病信念。此外,教会和信仰发挥着重要的作用和塑造拉丁裔/A核心信念,例如牺牲的重要性,为他人服务以及长期以来的苦难,即使在面对逆境中也是如此。
美洲原住民
尽管美洲原住民之间的多样性很大,但研究人员还是在这个文化群体中确定了特定的价值观。在这些价值中,已经确定了集体主义文化价值。具体而言,如果这些成就使小组受益,则个人成就将得到荣誉和支持。同样,人们相信所有事物都是联系并具有目的的。此外,灵性的重要性是美洲原住民的文化价值之一。特别是,美洲原住民相信一个被认为是男性和女性的创造者,并指挥所有元素。此外,美国原住民的文化价值观来自一种灵性,强调与自然和谐并存。从中获得共享的文化价值,因为万物属于地球。
由于他们获得的智慧,美洲原住民也重视长老。此外,对过去和祖先精神的贡献有尊重。其他文化价值包括关注非语言交流,强调合作的相互关系,对流体时间取向的偏爱以及对部落仪式的尊重。
Given that these cultural values are central for a particular cultural group, it offers many implications for their worldviews, how they interpret and perceive environments and situations, and how they make decisions. With the understanding of cultural values, the understanding of culture may become more advanced. Thus, in clarifying and defining cultural values we may have a better understanding of what culture means to specific groups.
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