All groups with a significant history have culture

All organizations with a history have cultural values. These values are often passed by the founder defining the normative context of behavior and ethics of the organization. Organizations take a variety of forms in modern society from political parties, to religious organizations or even gangs. All lasting groups have either explicit norms that govern behavior, or implicit rules that people conform to in order to stay a member.

The differences between males and females within societies are also reinforced by varying gender cultures. Gender roles generally define what society deems to be appropriate behavior. There are large differences in gender culture between fundamentalist societies and norms found in modern liberal countries. Gender roles are impacted by the history of the larger society, and what today is considered appropriate in one society (like nude bathing) may be the subject of severe sanction in another country. In some societies women have virtually no life outside the home, whereas in others particularly in the Scandinavian countries the genders are largely treated with equality both in the workplace and in society.

The term popular culture is also used frequently today to connote popular music and dominant fashions or other fads. Since these preferences exist within groups of people popular culture share some common features that have psychological consequences. For example, the psychedelic culture of the past produced musical preferences and in some case drug dependency and addiction. Keep in mind that part of any definition of culture is the persistence of behavior over time. Since musical preferences and popularity of expressions in fashion and arts often change with the passage of time the cultural influence is likely to be limited.

Date: 2015-01-11; view: 892