Nature of Culture: The Socially Acquired Knowledge and Behaviors in Society

Culture is one of those words we use every day but rarely stop to define. It shapes how we greet each other, what we eat, what we celebrate, and even how we think. But what exactly is the nature of culture? At its core, culture is not something we are born with – it is something we learn from the people and society around us. It includes everything from the songs we sing and the festivals we attend, to the moral codes we follow and the laws we obey. Understanding culture is essential for making sense of human societies, and it holds deep implications for how communities sustain themselves over time.

Culture as traditional knowledge 🔗

Culture, in its broadest sense, refers to socially acquired knowledge and behaviours that form traditions followed by members of a society. Edward B. Tylor, often regarded as the father of cultural anthropology, defined culture as a complex whole encompassing knowledge, belief, arts, morals, law, customs, and other capabilities and habits that people acquire as members of society. This definition, first published in his landmark work Primitive Culture (1871), remains a foundational concept in the social sciences even today.

What makes Tylor’s definition so powerful is its emphasis on culture as something learned rather than biologically inherited. Tylor viewed cultural capabilities as acquired and transmitted socially, not as something natural or innate. This means that everything from language and religious rituals to table manners and artistic traditions is passed on through social interaction, not through our genes.

India’s folklore traditions as a living example 🔗

India offers a remarkable illustration of culture as traditional knowledge. Indian culture is considered one of the oldest continuous cultural traditions in the world, with its languages, religions, dance, music, architecture, food, and customs varying from place to place within the country. The country’s folklore traditions of dance and music exemplify this rich heritage beautifully.

India’s Sangeet Natak Akademi currently recognises eight classical dance styles – Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Manipuri, Mohiniyattam, and Sattriya – each representing the culture and ethos of a particular region. Beyond classical forms, India’s folk music traditions range from the mystical Baul songs of West Bengal – recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage – to the heroic ballads of the Langa and Manganiyar communities in Rajasthan. These are not mere performances. They are vehicles for transmitting beliefs, values, morals, and community norms across generations – the very elements that Tylor included in his definition of culture.

Enculturation and cultural continuity 🔗

If culture is learned, then how exactly do people learn it? The answer lies in a process called enculturation – the mechanism through which cultural continuity between generations is maintained. Enculturation is the process of learning the characteristics and expectations of a culture or group. It is what links individuals to their culture and society, turning a newborn with no cultural knowledge into a fully functioning member of a community.

Enculturation happens through both conscious and unconscious learning. Parents deliberately teach children their language, religion, and social etiquette. But much of cultural learning is unconscious – children pick up attitudes, preferences, and worldviews simply by observing and imitating those around them. Culture is learned from the people you interact with as you are socialised, and watching how adults react and talk to new babies is an excellent way to see the actual symbolic transmission of culture.

Older generations also use systems of rewards and punishments to reinforce cultural norms. A child praised for greeting elders respectfully learns that this behaviour is valued. A child scolded for breaking a social taboo learns to avoid it. Over time, these small interactions accumulate into a deeply internalised sense of what is right, normal, and expected within a culture.

The role of ethnocentrism in enculturation 🔗

Enculturation is closely governed by ethnocentrism – the tendency to view one’s own culture as the most important and correct standard. Sociologist William Graham Sumner described ethnocentrism as the belief or attitude that one’s own culture is better than all others and should serve as the standard frame of reference.

Ethnocentrism is not necessarily intentional. Due to enculturation, individuals in in-groups develop a deeper sense of loyalty and are more likely to follow norms and build relationships with associated members. Most people are unconsciously socialised into becoming ethnocentric – they do not realise how strongly they have been influenced by their upbringing to believe that their society’s way of doing things is the benchmark for judging others.

While ethnocentrism can strengthen group identity and social cohesion, it can also create barriers to understanding other cultures. This is where cultural relativism enters as a corrective framework.

Cultural relativism and cultural understanding 🔗

Cultural relativism is the principle of understanding and valuing the practices of a culture from the perspective of that culture, rather than judging them through an outsider’s lens. It is the guiding philosophy of modern anthropology – the idea that we should seek to understand another person’s beliefs and behaviours from the perspective of their culture rather than our own.

This concept was significantly developed by anthropologist Franz Boas and his students. Boas pointed out that scientists grow up and work within a particular culture and are thus necessarily ethnocentric, leading him and his colleagues to advocate living with people of another culture for extended periods to learn the local language and become at least partially enculturated.

Cultural relativism does not mean that every cultural practice must be accepted without question. Rather, it provides an ethical framework for understanding different cultural patterns before making judgements. It asks: why does this practice exist in this particular context? What role does it play within this community’s system of beliefs, economics, and social structure?

How enculturation, ethnocentrism, and diffusion keep cultures alive 🔗

Three interconnected processes sustain cultures in various forms. Enculturation ensures that each new generation absorbs the traditions, values, and knowledge of the previous one. Ethnocentrism, despite its limitations, reinforces loyalty to one’s cultural group and motivates the preservation of cultural practices. And cultural diffusion – the transfer of cultural traits between societies – introduces new elements that keep cultures dynamic and evolving.

Together, these three forces create a balance between cultural preservation and cultural change, ensuring that no culture remains entirely static or entirely lost.

Cultural diffusion and similarity 🔗

Cultural diffusion refers to the spread of cultural traits, ideas, practices, and technologies from one society to another. It is one of the primary ways in which cultures develop both similarities and differences. When two societies are in close geographical proximity or share similar environmental conditions, diffusion tends to be more successful and extensive.

Consider how India’s cultural influence has historically spread across Asia. Through the transmission of Hinduism in Southeast Asia and the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism, Indian cultural elements such as music, dance, architecture, and naming conventions were adopted by non-Indian kingdoms across the region. This is a powerful example of cultural diffusion creating similarities between geographically distant but historically connected societies.

Within India itself, folk dance traditions show how diffusion works at a regional level. Dances such as Bhangra and Giddha from Punjab, Garba and Dandiya Raas from Gujarat, and the Kummi and Kolattam dances of southern India express agricultural, seasonal, and social themes through movement and music. While each form is unique, they share underlying themes of community celebration and seasonal rhythms – similarities that arise from shared environmental and agricultural contexts.

Independent invention vs. diffusion 🔗

Not all cultural similarities result from diffusion. Some similar cultural features develop independently across societies – a phenomenon known as independent invention or parallel evolution. For instance, Tylor demonstrated how the art of writing developed through a series of stages – from picture writing to hieroglyphic writing to alphabetic writing – suggesting an evolutionary progression that different societies could undergo independently.

This distinction matters because it shows that cultural evolution is not a one-way street of borrowing. Societies can arrive at similar solutions to common problems – such as agriculture, governance, or communication – through their own unique pathways. This demonstrates both the universality and the uniqueness of cultural development.

Emic and etic approaches to understanding culture 🔗

One of the most important methodological frameworks in cultural anthropology is the distinction between emic and etic approaches. These terms, coined by linguist Kenneth Pike in 1954, describe two fundamentally different ways of studying and understanding culture.

The emic approach adopts an insider’s perspective, examining beliefs, values, and practices from the viewpoint of the people who live within that culture. The etic approach adopts an outsider’s perspective, focusing on observable behaviours and seeking to understand them through external analytical frameworks.

To put it simply: the emic approach asks, “What does this mean to the people who practise it?” The etic approach asks, “What patterns can an outside observer identify across cultures?”

How emic and etic perspectives complement each other 🔗

Some anthropologists argue that a combination of both approaches is necessary for a complete understanding of a culture, as the emic approach offers culturally specific meaning while the etic approach enables cross-cultural comparison. Neither perspective alone is sufficient.

Anthropologist Marvin Harris made extensive use of both emic and etic perspectives in his theory of cultural materialism. Harris studied the Hindu taboo against cow slaughter, arguing that the religious prohibition (an emic belief) was a superstructural element resulting from the economic need to use cows as draft animals rather than food – an etic observation. By combining what people believed with what an outside observer could measure, Harris arrived at a more complete understanding of the practice.

Universal cultural patterns: infrastructure, structure, and superstructure 🔗

Harris proposed that all cultures can be analysed through three interconnected levels. Infrastructure refers to a society’s basic biological needs and resources, including population, technology, and subsistence methods. Structure encompasses the organisational aspects such as domestic and political economy. Superstructure covers the symbolic and ideological aspects, including rituals, taboos, values, and beliefs.

Harris argued that changes in a society’s infrastructure – its material and economic base – tend to drive changes in its structure and superstructure over time. For example, when agricultural technology changes in a farming community, it can reshape family structures, gender roles, political organisation, and even religious beliefs.

This three-level model provides a useful framework for understanding how the mental thought patterns (emic) and behavioural aspects (etic) of culture are not separate phenomena but deeply interconnected parts of a unified whole.

Why understanding the nature of culture matters 🔗

The study of culture is not just an academic exercise. It has real implications for how societies function, how communities interact, and how we address challenges like globalisation, cultural preservation, and social change.

Tylor’s foundational insight that culture is learned, shared, and transmitted reminds us that cultural practices are not fixed in stone. They evolve as societies face new challenges and opportunities. Modern anthropologists pay close attention to relations of power and inequality in their analyses of cultural processes, recognising that understanding the changing culture of any group requires understanding who holds power and how they acquire influence.

At the same time, concepts like enculturation and cultural relativism remind us to approach cultural differences with humility. Cultural relativism promotes understanding cultural practices from the point of view of that culture and avoiding hasty judgements. In a world that is more connected than ever, this perspective is not just academically valuable – it is socially essential.

Whether we are examining India’s rich tapestry of classical and folk dance traditions, studying how cultural traits spread across the Silk Road, or analysing the emic beliefs of a farming community, the nature of culture reveals itself as dynamic, layered, and profoundly human.

What do you think? How has enculturation shaped the values you hold most deeply – and are there cultural practices from other communities that challenged your ethnocentric assumptions once you understood them from an insider’s perspective?

References

1. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-introductiontosociology/chapter/ethnocentrism-and-cultural-relativism/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_relativism
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emic_and_etic
4. https://anthropology.ua.edu/theory/cultural-materialism/
5. https://www.indiaculture.gov.in/dance