4.1 Culture

LO 4.1: Describe what sociologists mean by culture.

Sociologists use a sociological eye to study how people socially construct culture. Culture refers to the shared meaning of objects, actions, and ideas created and supported by social groups across geography and time. It includes the actions, knowledge, objects, and shared meaning of these things (see Photo 4.1).

Objects make up material culture. Material culture consists of buildings, tools, art, technology, and other things people make. Actions and ideas form cognitive culture. Cognitive culture (or nonmaterial culture)includes norms, institutions, frames, perceptions, repertoires of action, narratives, symbolic boundaries, roles, status, and values associated with groups. Cognitive culture provides meaning for material culture. For example, different groups may use various materials to build houses (material culture), but whether a house is a home has to do with the norms of a social group (cognitive culture).

Photo 4.1

How People Greet Others Varies Cross-Culturally

A group’s culture can change because of many factors. For example, Chapter 1 focused on technology and how it contributes to social change. Technological, scientific, and medical innovations can lead to longer lives. Innovations may lead to earlier disease detection, prevention, or both. For example, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has led to a decrease in cervical precancer lesions by about 80% between 2008 and 2022 among women aged 20-24. These women are the age group most likely to be vaccinated (the Centers for Disease Control first recommended the vaccine in the United States in 2006) (Garbano et al., 2025). Improved health because of technological innovation can lead to longer life expectancies.