When a person is described as cultural, it may be in reference to their appreciation of literature, music and art or to their familiarity with different foods. For a biologist, culture is more likely to refer to the nutrient medium in a Petri dish in which they are growing a colony of bacteria. But for anthropologists and other behavioral scientists, culture is a broad concept that encompasses all learned behavior patterns. It is a system of beliefs, values, attitudes, assumptions, and prejudices that characterizes groups and is passed on from one generation to the next.
Culture is a complex set of traditions that distinguishes a specific society from others. These traditions are largely determined by the genes of the individuals who comprise that society and are inherited from parents and other family members. For example, a child in an Italian-American family will acquire the language and traditions of that society by being exposed to them. However, an individual who does not have a parent from Italy or Samoa will not develop the same culture.
A second level of culture involves the social organization and political system that defines a country or region. For example, a person from the United States will have a western culture that is distinct from the cultures of people from other countries. In the United States, the western culture is characterized by a democratic form of government, which is based on the principles of freedom and equality. Other countries, such as India, have a democratic culture, but have an entirely different political system that is based on the principle of hierarchy.
The third aspect of culture is the norms and philosophies that govern how people live and interact with each other. These include such diverse things as ethical and moral standards, societal structure, and worldviews. A person’s culture is shaped in large part by the values of their parents, but also by the environment in which they grow up and by the influences of other families, neighbors and friends.
Throughout history, different societies have shared their culture with each other. In the past, this sharing was mainly through wars and conquests, but in modern times it is more often through immigration from one nation to another. An example of this is the influence that Japanese prints have had on Paul Gauguin’s paintings or the neoclassical style of buildings in Liberia, where African-American enslaved people brought this architecture with them when they were freed.
Regardless of whether you are studying cultures in their native settings or in their immigrant forms, a good understanding of how to work with people from other cultural backgrounds is important. It is not necessary to be an expert on the intricacies of a particular culture to be sensitive to other people’s perspectives and to understand their concerns. However, it is important to learn something about the culture and its history before building a relationship with someone from a different cultural background, especially if you are planning to host an event that celebrates various cultures.