subjective culture

n. People in each culture (defined by the conjunction of language, location, and history) have a characteristic way of viewing their social environment. Culture is to society what memory is to individuals, so it consists of what has worked in the past, has helped a group adjust to its environment, and thus was worth transmitting to future generations.

Subjective culture includes shared ideas, theories, and political, religious, scientific, economic, and social standards for judging events in the environment. Subjective culture can be contrasted with material culture: the tools, dwellings, foods, clothing, pots, machines, roads, bridges that are widely used in a culture.

Subjective culture includes also shared memories, ideas about correct and incorrect behavior, stereotypes, and the way members of the culture value entities in their environment. Categorizations, associations among the categories, role definitions, values, and value orientations (e.g., are humans intrinsically “good” or “bad”?) are also elements of subjective culture. – HTr