Culture is the learned behaviors, beliefs and values that distinguish a particular society from others. It is passed down from generation to generation through communication and imitation. It includes symbols and traditions, as well as a group’s art, morality, laws and customs.
People who study culture are called anthropologists. They have found that some parts of culture are universal, meaning that all societies share certain behaviors, such as dealing with relatives, making art and playing games. However, the ways that these things are done vary from one culture to another.
In addition to the observable elements of cultural behavior, a culture is also comprised of intangible elements, such as values and attitudes. The values are often unconscious, but they drive a lot of a person’s behavior and decisions. In addition, a person’s culture can influence his or her attitude toward religion, politics and other aspects of life.
A person’s sense of culture is largely determined by the environment in which he or she is raised. The family in which a person is born and the community in which he or she lives are two of the most important influences on his or her culture. Besides these factors, the individual’s personal preferences are also important in determining his or her cultural identity.
Many different theories have been developed about the nature of culture. For example, Matthew Arnold viewed it as the cultivation of the humanist ideal. British anthropologist Edward Tylor viewed it as a complex system of implicit and explicit patterns of behavior acquired through interaction with and imitation of the environment. These behaviors are reflected in artifacts and constitute the essential core of a culture.
Moreover, cultures are often described as either materialist or spiritual in nature. In the latter case, they are seen as a reflection of the way a people perceive the world around them. These perceptions are based on a set of principles such as good-evil, right-wrong, natural-unnatural and good-bad.
Every culture has a defined code of ethics that dictates how members should treat each other and how they should behave in the workplace, for instance. These are the values that are passed down from parents to children and from one generation to the next. These values determine the type of person a person becomes, and they influence his or her decision-making process in the workplace as well as in personal relationships.
It is important to note that appreciating another culture is a good thing, but appropriating it is not. Appropriating a culture involves taking elements of it without the proper authority or rights. This is often seen when people from other countries visit or work in the United States. In these cases, a proper understanding of the culture is critical to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts. This is especially true when working on a crew where members come from different cultures. In this case, it may be necessary to hire event decorations that showcase the various cultures of the participants.