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3.3 Elements of culture
Time, place and variations in economic, political, social, religious and psychological
settings influence the culture of a society. They all affect such elements of culture as
customs, values, dress codes and acceptable patterns of behaviour or taboos, to mention
only a few.
Elements of culture are acquired from the surrounding environment, and people
naturally express them in different ways. Some of the elements are visible and some
are not; some are expressed consciously, some unconsciously. Clothes, food and
social organisation are all visible symbols of a culture.
What is expressed through values, concepts, norms and attitudes often constitutes the
invisible part. However, in daily life, it is very possible that visible characteristics are
accompanied by invisible elements, and in some other cases, invisible elements
turn out to be visible in practice.
One well-known model for reflecting upon the elements of culture is the iceberg
model, using the iceberg as a metaphor. Just as the visible part of an iceberg is only
a small proportion of the whole iceberg, likewise visible parts of a culture are just
extensions of its invisible parts, which may make it difficult to understand people
from different cultures.
One can only see the visible part of the iceberg but not its foundations, which lie
deep underneath; the table lists some examples of visible and invisible elements of
culture. Although the model does not answer all the questions related to culture,
it is still a good starting point for a more in-depth look at culture. 14
Fig. 1 : The iceberg concept of culture
Primarily in awareness
Fine arts Literature
Drama Classical music Popular music
Folk-dancing Games Cooking Dress
Notions of modesty Conception of beauty
Primarily out of awareness
Ideals governing child raising Rules of descent Cosmology
Relationship to animals Patterns of superior/subordinate relations
Definition of sin Courtship practices Conception of justice Incentives to work
Notions of leadership Tempo of work Patterns of group decision-making
Conception of cleanliness Attitudes to the dependent Theory of disease
Approaches to problem solving Conception of status mobility Eye behaviour
Roles in relation to status by age, sex, class, occupation, kinship, etc. Definition of insanity
Nature of friendship Conception of “self” Patterns of visual perception Body language
Facial expressions Notions about logic and validity Patterns of handling emotions
Conversational patterns in various social contexts Conception of past and future Ordering of time
Preference for competition or co-operation Social interaction rate Notions of adolescence
Arrangement of physical space Etc.
Source: p.14 AFS Orientation Handbook Vol.4, New York: AFS Intercultural Programs Inc., 1984
Figure 3.2: The iceberg
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