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Culture and Socialisation – Class 11 Sociology notes, important questions and MCQs

NCERT Class 11 Sociology, chapter 4. Notes, key terms, important questions with answers and MCQs.

Chapter overview

Culture is the way of life of a group, including knowledge, beliefs, values, norms, language, customs and material objects that are learned and shared. Socialisation is the lifelong process by which individuals learn the culture of their society and develop a sense of self. Agencies of socialisation include family, peer groups, school, mass media and religion. Culture has cognitive, normative and material dimensions.

Culture

Culture is learned, shared and transmitted across generations; it varies between societies and changes over time.
Its dimensions are cognitive (understanding and knowledge), normative (rules, values and norms) and material (tools, technology and objects).
Ethnocentrism is judging other cultures by the standards of one's own; cultural relativism is understanding a culture in its own context; cultural lag occurs when material culture changes faster than non-material culture.

Socialisation

Primary socialisation occurs in early childhood, mainly in the family; secondary socialisation continues later through school, peers, work and media.
George Herbert Mead explained how the self develops through role-taking; Charles Cooley described the 'looking-glass self'.
Re-socialisation occurs when people learn new norms in new situations, such as joining the army.

Key terms

Culture: the learned and shared way of life of a group
Socialisation: the process of learning the culture of one's society
Norms: rules that guide behaviour in a society
Ethnocentrism: judging other cultures by the standards of one's own
Cultural lag: the gap when material culture changes faster than non-material culture

Important questions with answers

What is cultural lag?2 marks

Cultural lag is a situation in which material culture, such as technology, changes faster than non-material culture, such as values, norms and laws, creating a gap and sometimes social problems; for example, rules for using the internet developing more slowly than the internet itself.

What are the agencies of socialisation?3 marks

The family teaches language, values and basic behaviour; peer groups teach cooperation and independence; schools teach knowledge, discipline and social values; mass media shape attitudes and aspirations; religion teaches moral values; and the workplace teaches occupational norms.

Explain the concept of culture and its dimensions.5 marks

Culture is the complex whole of knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, law, customs, language and material objects that people learn and share as members of a society. It is not inherited biologically but learned through socialisation, shared by members of a group, transmitted from generation to generation, and it varies across societies and changes over time. Culture has three main dimensions. The cognitive dimension refers to how people understand and make sense of the world, through knowledge, ideas, language and symbols. The normative dimension refers to the rules of conduct, including values, which define what is good and desirable, norms, which are specific guidelines for behaviour, folkways and mores, and laws, which are formal rules enforced by the state. The material dimension refers to tools, technology, machines, buildings and other objects created and used by people. Cultural diversity means that societies differ in their cultures; ethnocentrism is the tendency to judge others by the standards of one's own culture, while cultural relativism calls for understanding each culture in its own context. Cultural change can be rapid or slow, and cultural lag arises when material culture changes faster than non-material culture.

Quick revision

Culture: learned, shared, transmitted.
Dimensions: cognitive, normative, material.
Ethnocentrism, cultural relativism, cultural lag.
Socialisation: primary, secondary; agencies; Mead, Cooley.

Exam tips

Give an example each of cognitive, normative and material culture.
List five agencies of socialisation with one role each.

Practice MCQs

The learned and shared way of life of a group is called
1. culture
2. society
3. nation
4. economy
Show answer
Answer: (a) culture. It includes beliefs and customs.
The first and most important agency of socialisation is the
1. school
2. state
3. market
4. family
Show answer
Answer: (d) family. Children learn language and values there.
Rules that guide behaviour are called
1. norms
2. symbols
3. tools
4. classes
Show answer
Answer: (a) norms. Breaking them may bring sanctions.
Judging other cultures by one's own standards is
1. cultural relativism
2. socialisation
3. ethnocentrism
4. cultural lag
Show answer
Answer: (c) ethnocentrism. It can create prejudice.
Tools and technology form the
1. cognitive dimension
2. material dimension
3. normative dimension
4. symbolic dimension only
Show answer
Answer: (b) material dimension. They are physical objects.
The 'looking-glass self' was described by
1. Comte
2. Max Weber
3. Charles Cooley
4. Marx
Show answer
Answer: (c) Charles Cooley. We see ourselves through others' reactions.
When mobile phones spread faster than social rules for their use, this is an example of
1. cultural lag
2. cultural relativism
3. primary socialisation
4. ethnocentrism
Show answer
Answer: (a) cultural lag. Non-material culture lags behind.
A new recruit learning army discipline is undergoing
1. re-socialisation
2. primary socialisation
3. ethnocentrism
4. stratification
Show answer
Answer: (a) re-socialisation. Old patterns are replaced by new ones.

All chapters of Class 11 Sociology

Written by Kundali IQ from standard, well-established facts to help with revision. This is not an official NCERT publication; always read your textbook too.