Questions: Culture and Society

Question 1

Which of the following is an example of non-material culture?

• A. A religious text printed in a sacred language
• B. The norm that guests should bring a gift to a dinner party
• C. A traditional costume worn during a festival
• D. The architecture of a place of worship

Answer: (B)

Non-material culture consists of ideas, norms, values, beliefs, and symbolic meanings—things that exist in social practice and shared understanding rather than physical form. A norm about gift-giving is non-material: it has no physical substance, but it powerfully shapes behavior. The other options are all material artifacts, even though they carry symbolic meaning. The distinction matters because material culture can be preserved in museums, while non-material culture can only be transmitted through socialization.

Question 2

Culture is largely fixed within a society—while surface fashions may change, core values and norms remain stable across generations.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

Cultures are internally diverse and continuously changing, even their core elements. Attitudes toward gender roles, racial hierarchy, religious authority, and family structure have shifted dramatically within single societies over decades—changes driven by social movements, economic transformations, demographic shifts, and contact with other cultures. Treating culture as fixed mistakes a snapshot for a permanent state and often serves to naturalize existing power arrangements.

Question 3

In what sense does culture both enable and constrain human action? Give an example of the same cultural element functioning as both.

Model answer: Culture enables action by providing shared meanings, symbols, and scripts that allow coordination without constant negotiation—language, for instance, lets us communicate complex ideas. The same language constrains action by making some thoughts easier to express and others nearly impossible, and by marking speakers as belonging to certain groups. Similarly, a norm of hospitality enables generous community life while constraining those who cannot afford to meet its expectations.

The enabling/constraining duality is central to sociological thinking about culture. Culture is not merely a cage or merely a resource—it is both simultaneously. This dual character explains why cultural change is difficult (constraints are real) but not impossible (actors can creatively reinterpret or resist cultural scripts).