Chapter 2: "Culture" is a universal concept that can be described as a design for living that includes both "material" and "nonmaterial" culture. Individuals have an innate tendency to perceive and evaluate the world through the lens of their own culture, this concept is referred to as ethnocentricity. Cultural relativism attempts to understand the culture of other societies within their own cultural framework.Nonmaterial culture consists of symbols (language, values, norms, folkways, sanctions, and mores).
Language is a key element of culture as it allows us to move beyond the present and share our past experience and future plans. All groups have values and norms. Values give rise to our preferences, guide our choices, and indicate what is important in our lives, while norms are the expectations that develop to reflect and enforce values. The United States is considered a pluralistic society made up of many different group, each with its own set of values, however certain core values dominate.
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