UTS 5.5 ANTHROPOLOGICAL

• Genetic Inheritance vs. Sociocultural Environment


  "Nature" refers to genetic inheritance which sets the individual's potential, while "Nurture" refers to the sociocultural environment
• Culture

  A complex whole including knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society
• James L. Peacock: 'Anthropology is an academic field for understanding the interconnections and interdependence of biological and cultural aspects of the human experience in all times and places'
• Language


  A set of arbitrary symbols used for communication, including verbal and non-verbal forms
• Anthropology


  The study of human nature, with a holistic view that considers how cultural and biological processes interact to shape human experience
• Clifford Geertz: 'Anthropology is perhaps the last of the great nineteenth-century conglomerate disciplines still for the most part organizationally intact...'
• Culture


  • Provides patterns of "ways of life", shared understandings that guide behavior and are expressed in behavior
• Ethnic Identity


  Sameness of the self with others within a group, consciousness of sharing certain characteristics like language and culture, making a human being a person and an acting individual
• Self as embedded in culture


  Humans communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about and attitudes toward life through inherited conceptions and expressions in symbolic forms
• Peacock: 'The individual is a cultural individual, existing in freedom but also embodying the cultural mold in which he/she is cast in his/her particular society and historical epoch'
• Sociocentric view of the self

  • The self is viewed as contingent on a situation or social setting
  • There is no intrinsic self that can possess enduring qualities
  • Focuses on one's own social group; socially oriented
• Chinese prioritize kin ties and cooperation


  Attributed to a sociocentric view of the self
• Ethnic groups typically have interdependent identity, valuing the "we" feeling over the "I" feeling
• Identity can be represented in many ways including language, religion, beliefs, traditions, arts, and ways of making a living
• Identity Toolbox


  Features of a person's identity that they choose to emphasize in constructing a social self
• Arnold van Gennep's Three-Phased Rite of Passage

  1. Separation - people detach from their former identity to another

  2. Liminal - one has left one identity but has not yet entered or joined the next

  3. Incorporation - the changes are incorporated into a new identity through elaborate rituals and ceremonies like church weddings, debutant balls, and college graduations
• Japanese possess a sociocentric view of the self


  Interdependence between the person and the group is more valued than independence
• Americans tend to be egocentric


  They believe they should be assertive and independent
• Egocentric view of the self

  • The self is viewed as autonomous and distinct, capable of acting independently from others
  • Defines each person as a replica of all humanity but capable of acting independently
  • One who is without regard for the feelings or desires of others; self-centered
  • Each person is seen as a separate entity with characteristics residing within an individual
• Identity


  Features that make a human being a person and an acting individual
• There are two types of identity: independent and interdependent
• Personal naming is a universal practice with numerous cross-cultural variations that establish a child's birthright and social identity
• Ethnic identity is defined as one's knowledge of membership in a social group and the personal meaning associated with that membership
• One's identity or the conceptualization of the self is continuously acquired in life