What is Culture

Culture is the way of life of a particular society or group of people, including
patterns of thought, beliefs, behavior, customs, traditions, rituals, dress, and
language, as well as art, music, and literature.

(Webster’s New World Encyclopedia, 1992)

Culture is a shared patterns of belief, feeling and adaptation, which people carry in
their minds.

(Leighton & Hughes, 1961)

Culture is an organized group of ideas, habits and conditioned responding shared
by members of a society.

(Linton, 1956)

culture is a blueprint for living.

(Kluckholm, 1944)

Or one can simply say:

culture is shared values and beliefs in a given group.

People in every culture are raised with a set of values, beliefs, and attitudes. Some are
held deeply, and in many cases, they have never been questioned. Others may be
negotiable or debatable. But all affect how a person receives a new message.

Key questions for us to ask then,

What core values are these people assuming as they observe and hear me?

What do they already believe that will affect their attitude toward me?

culture, definition of culture, comparing cultures, national cultures, inter-cultural, cross-cultural, Geert Hofstede, Kluckholm, set of values,
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Culture - What is it?