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58 CHAPTER 2 Culture

Values, both those held by individuals
and those that represent a nation or having some inherent laziness or dull minds. And they “know” they are right, because
people, can undergo deep shifts. It
is difficult for many of us to grasp the the mass media dangle before their eyes enticing stories of individuals who have suc-
pride with which earlier Americans ceeded despite the greatest of handicaps.
destroyed trees that took thousands
of years to grow, are located only on
one tiny speck of the globe, and that “Ideal” Versus “Real” Culture
we today consider part of the nation’s Many of the norms that surround cultural values are followed only partially. Differences
and world’s heritage. But this is a always exist between a group’s ideals and what its members actually do. Consequently,
value statement, representing current
views. The pride expressed on these sociologists use the term ideal culture to refer to the values, norms, and goals that a
woodcutters’ faces represents another group considers ideal, worth aiming for. Success, for example, is part of ideal culture.
set of values entirely. Americans glorify academic progress, hard work, and the display of material goods as
signs of individual achievement. What people actually do, however, usually falls short of
2.5 Take a position on the the cultural ideal. Compared with their abilities, for example, most people don’t work as
issue of the existence of cultural hard as they could or go as far as they could in school. Sociologists call the norms and
universals and contrast sociobiology values that people actually follow real culture.
with sociology.

ideal culture a people’s ideal val-
ues and norms; the goals held out Cultural Universals
for them
With the amazing variety of human cultures around the world, are there any cultural
real culture the norms and val- universals—values, norms, or other cultural traits that are found everywhere?
ues that people actually follow; as To answer this question, anthropologist George Murdock (1945) combed through
opposed to ideal culture
the data that anthropologists had gathered on hundreds of groups around the world. He
cultural universal a value, norm, compared their customs concerning courtship, marriage, funerals, games, laws, music,
or other cultural trait that is found myths, incest taboos, and even toilet training. He found that these activities are pres-
in every group
ent in all cultures, but the specific customs differ from one group to another. There is no