History and Social Science, Part 126
Question 1: Define idea of progress, cultural lag, and diffusion.
Answer 1: In sociology, the idea of progress is the idea that social and technological progress is inevitable. A cultural lag is created when a change in one part of society is not immediately followed by corresponding changes in the other parts. A typical example is when new technology brings rapid progress to the day-to-day lives of the citizens, and the religious institutions do not adjust their practices to incorporate it. This typically produces a period of relative inactivity in the society. Diffusion, in the context of sociology, is the process by which technological, political, and social innovations spread from one society to another. The process of diffusion is usually accelerated in pluralist societies that are used to a healthy internal debate.
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Question 2: Describe acculturation.
Answer 2: Acculturation is the extensive borrowing of cultural traits by one group from another. Acculturation also can describe the exchange of cultural traits between two cultures that are in close contact for a long period. Acculturation may occur such that the recipient culture incorporates new traits without significantly altering its own culture; an example of this is the acquisition of Chinese linguistic characters into Korean and Japanese language. Of course, acculturation may also have a devastating effect on one of the cultures, as in the savagely unequal exchange between Europeans and Native Americans. Many groups are currently trying to resist the acculturation encouraged by globalization.
Question 3: Discuss culture shock.
Answer 3: Culture shock is the feeling of disorientation that a person may feel when he or she encounters cultural values, norms, or practices that are contrary to what he or she is accustomed to encountering. Culture shock may occur when an individual goes to another country, moves to a different environment, or simply encounters something unfamiliar in his or her own culture. Culture shock typically has four phases: the honeymoon, in which the new culture is perceived as good; the shock, in which the individual becomes disoriented; the negotiation, in which the individual labors to make the new culture acceptable to him or herself; and acceptance, in which the positives and negatives of the new culture have been absorbed and reconciled.
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