CULTURE: the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generation (Merriam Webster Dictionary). CULTURE: the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc. (dictionary.com)
CULTURE: an integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning (wikipedia.com).
In the study of communication and according to Tubbs and Moss, culture means "a way of life developed and shared by a group of people and passed down from generation to generation." Culture is composed of "religious and political systems, customs, and language as well as tools, clothing, buildings, and works of art." While many may believe that we are born with our culture, we are actually born INTO it. We learn our culture, it is not innate. Because of this, culture is commonly said to be socially constructed. When we are born into the world we learn how to act and learn what is socially accepted by imitating and mocking those we grow up around.
Culture can be characterized into two different types of culture: collectivist cultures and individualist cultures.
In collectivist cultures, the tendency of people in a given culture is to value the group identity over their individual
identity. In this culture, group obligations are more important that individual success. Within this type of culture many
different factors are important to the members of the group. People belong to collective cultures so they can feel
important by belonging to the group, interdependent, and to avoid direct conflict. This type of culture is also known as
high - context cultures. High context cultures, according to Tubbs and Moss, are more skilled in reading nonverbal
behaviors and they assume others can do the same. Also, people within this culture tend to speak less and listen more.
As mentioned previously, communication within this culture is more indirect and less explicit. The Japanese culture is
a good example of a collectivist culture and a high-context culture.
The other type of culture, an individualistic culture, involves people who have the tendency to value individual identity
over the identity of the group they belong to. They tend to value their own value over the group's individual. These people
are independent, emphasize personal goals,and communicate directly. In contrast to collectivistic cultures, individualistic
cultures are low-context cultures and emphasize verbal messages and the shared information they encode.
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