The words Culture and Society might be assumed to be the exact terms by many people, but they are not. Every person in this world needs to know about culture and society.
Key Takeaways
- Culture refers to a group of people’s shared beliefs, values, customs, and practices.
- Society refers to individuals in a particular geographic area who share a common culture and institutions.
- Culture is more abstract and intangible, while society is more concrete and visible.
Culture vs Society
Culture refers to the shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that characterize a group or community of people. Society refers to the social organization, structures, and institutions that people create to facilitate individual interactions and cooperation.
Culture is something every society has, and every society has a different culture. Culture and Society are something that cannot exist without each other. Every society is different based on its culture.
Culture defines the guidelines on how people should live. However, society helps people to organize themselves based on their culture.
A society represents a group of people who used to live in a particular region. People in a society tend to share common beliefs. Society helps us in enabling the social framework. However, culture is known to keep that social framework united.
Comparison Table
| Parameter of Comparison | Culture | Society |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A particular set of beliefs, customs, traditions, moral values, etc., that is passed on to the next generation is known as Culture. | The group of people, interconnected internally based on their set of beliefs and their way of living, is considered a Society. |
| Role | It helps us to differentiate a particular cohort from another. | To unite a group of people who share common beliefs. |
| Significance | It tells people how to live. | It is an excellent method for people to organize themselves. |
| Includes | Culture includes the beliefs, traditions, customs, etc., of a group. | Society includes people with the same set of traditions and customs. |
| Examples | Dressing sense, art forms, etc. | The village, district, city, etc. |
What is Culture?
Culture is any beliefs and traditions passed on from the older generation to the younger one. A culture keeps on evolving.
Culture is something that is reasonably necessary for the survival of the human race. Many archaeologists are studying the artefacts from the older generation to understand how they used to live.
Culture also brings a form of discipline to society. It prevents people from going chaotic. Through culture, it becomes easier to manage people.
Culture is something that people accept immediately. It doesn’t create any second thoughts in their mind. Culture gets transmitted to new generations through communication and teachings.
To put it simply, culture is the term that describes how people live their life. Culture differentiates people throughout the world.
For example, people in India join their hands while greeting someone. However, people in America used to shake hands while greeting. The greeting changes from country to country or sometimes from region to region.
What is Society?
Society is a group of people who share common interests, beliefs, and customs. Any group living in a particular region sharing a culture comes under society.
Government, health centres, companies, etc., all come under society. Every person in a society contributes to it somehow.
People in society also work for the betterment of it. They even raise money to solve various issues in society. A society might include different cultures.
When somebody in society is facing a hard time, the people of that society are always there to help them.
The people in a society use to share common beliefs and practices. It is the society that constructs the social framework or structure. Society gets reflected in the economy of that particular region.
It is a structure that lets people organize themselves.
Main Differences Between Culture and Society
- Culture includes the traditions, customs, moral values, and behaviour transferred from one generation to another utilizing communication or teachings.
However, society includes people who share common beliefs and are connected by some means. - Culture defines a particular society and separates it from other societies there. In contrast, society is the cohort of people who share mutual interests over a while.
- The culture unites the social framework. However, society helps us to make this social framework.
- Culture acts as a rule book that teaches people how to live. On the other hand, society helps people to organize themselves.
- Beliefs, customs, and values are the things that constitute a culture. However, a society includes people who share such mutual beliefs and customs.
- https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=vE85zkFdURQC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=Culture+and+Society&ots=81DXa6TQDL&sig=YLrWglLBytdbyQZtbURYywMiP7U
- https://www.degruyter.com/abstract/title/320949
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Emma Smith holds an MA degree in English from Irvine Valley College. She has been a Journalist since 2002, writing articles on the English language, Sports, and Law. Read more about me on her bio page.
Being a politician in the New Zealand, we come across matters that are of importance to the society at large. This article has explained the difference between culture and society in a great way.