4: Kinetics
Chemical kinetics is the study of rates of chemical processes and includes investigations of how different experimental conditions can influence the speed of a chemical reaction and yield information about the reaction's mechanism and transition states, as well as the construction of mathematical models that can describe the characteristics of a chemical reaction.
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- 4.1: Prelude to Kinetics
- The study of chemical kinetics concerns the rate at which a reaction yields products and the molecular-scale means by which a reaction occurs. In this chapter, we will examine the factors that influence the rates of chemical reactions, the mechanisms by which reactions proceed, and the quantitative techniques used to determine and describe the rate at which reactions occur.
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- 4.2: Chemical Reaction Rates
- The rate of a reaction can be expressed either in terms of the decrease in the amount of a reactant or the increase in the amount of a product per unit time. Relations between different rate expressions for a given reaction are derived directly from the stoichiometric coefficients of the equation representing the reaction.
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- 4.3: Factors Affecting Reaction Rates
- The rate of a chemical reaction is affected by several parameters. Reactions involving two phases proceed more rapidly when there is greater surface area contact. If temperature or reactant concentration is increased, the rate of a given reaction generally increases as well. A catalyst can increase the rate of a reaction by providing an alternative pathway that causes the activation energy of the reaction to decrease.
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- 4.4: Rate Laws
- Rate laws provide a mathematical description of how changes in the amount of a substance affect the rate of a chemical reaction. Rate laws are determined experimentally and cannot be predicted by reaction stoichiometry. The order of reaction describes how much a change in the amount of each substance affects the overall rate, and the overall order of a reaction is the sum of the orders for each substance present in the reaction.
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- 4.5: Integrated Rate Laws
- Differential rate laws can be determined by the method of initial rates or other methods. We measure values for the initial rates of a reaction at different concentrations of the reactants. From these measurements, we determine the order of the reaction in each reactant. Integrated rate laws are determined by integration of the corresponding differential rate laws. Rate constants for those rate laws are determined from measurements of concentration at various times during a reaction.
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- 4.6: Collision Theory
- Chemical reactions require collisions between reactant species. These reactant collisions must be of proper orientation and sufficient energy in order to result in product formation. Collision theory provides a simple but effective explanation for the effect of many experimental parameters on reaction rates. The Arrhenius equation describes the relation between a reaction’s rate constant and its activation energy, temperature, and dependence on collision orientation.
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- 4.7: Reaction Mechanisms
- The sequence of individual steps, or elementary reactions, by which reactants are converted into products during the course of a reaction is called the reaction mechanism. The overall rate of a reaction is determined by the rate of the slowest step, called the rate-determining step. Unimolecular elementary reactions have first-order rate laws, while bimolecular elementary reactions have second-order rate laws.
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- 4.E: Kinetics (Exercises)
- These are homework exercises to accompany the Textmap created for "Chemistry" by OpenStax. Complementary General Chemistry question banks can be found for other Textmaps and can be accessed here. In addition to these publicly available questions, access to private problems bank for use in exams and homework is available to faculty only on an individual basis; please contact Delmar Larsen for an account with access permission.
Thumbnail: Molecular collisions frequency. (Public Domain; Sadi Carnot via Wikipedia )


2.2: What is India? The Geography of South Asia
India’s dynamic history alternated between unified empires and periods when it was composed of a shifting mosaic of regional states. This history was also impacted by influxes of migrants and invaders. In thinking about the reasons for these patterns, historians highlight the size of India and its diverse geography and peoples.
It is important to remember that “India” can mean different things. Today, India usually designates the nation-state of India (see Map \(\PageIndex{1}\)). But modern India only formed in 1947 and includes much less territory than India did in ancient times. As a term, India was first invented by the ancient Greeks to refer to the Indus River and the lands and people beyond it. When used in this sense, India includes today’s nation of Pakistan. For the purpose of studying earlier history, India can be thought of as the territory that includes at least seven countries today: India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. This territory is also referred to as South Asia or the Indian subcontinent.
The Indian subcontinent is where Indian civilization took shape, but it was not created by one people, race, or ethnic group. Rather, the history of this region was shaped by a multitude of ethnic groups who spoke many different languages and lived and moved about on diverse terrain.
Large natural boundaries define the subcontinent. Mountain ranges ring the north, and bodies of water surround the rest. To the east lies the Bay of Bengal, to the south the Indian Ocean, and to the west the Arabian Sea. The largest mountain range is the Himalaya, which defines India’s northern and northeastern boundary. A subrange of the Himalaya—the Hindu Kush — sits at its western end. A ridge running from north to south defines the eastern end, dividing India from China and mainland Southeast Asia. To the northwest, the Suleiman Range and Kirthar Range complete what might seem like impassable barriers. Yet, these ranges are punctuated by a few narrow passes that connect India to Central Asia and West Asia.
To the south of the mountain ranges lie the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the two great rivers of northern India that comprise it: the Indus River and the Ganges River . These rivers originate in the Himalayas and are regularly fed by snowmelt and monsoon rains. Located in the northwest, the Indus River drains into the Arabian Sea. The region comprising the upper Indus is called the Punjab , while the region surrounding the lower Indus is referred to as the Sindh . Because they could support large populations, the plains surrounding these river systems served as the heartland for India’s first major states and empires.
Peninsular India is an important part of the story because over time great regional kingdoms will also emerge in the south. The peninsula is divided from northern India by the Vindhya Mountains, to the south of which lies the Deccan Plateau . This arid plateau is bordered by two coastal ranges— the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats. This nearly 4600 miles of coastline linked fishing and trading communities to the Indian Ocean and the rest of Afro-Eurasia. Sri Lanka is an island located about thirty kilometers southeast of the southernmost tip of India, and served as an important conduit for trade and cultural contacts beyond India.


10.2: Private sector
Staffing and Employment Private facilities reported a total of 13,344 regular and non-payroll support staff. The number of full-time, or regular, staff ranged from as low as 19 at the smallest institution to 532 at the largest. Correctional officers accounted for 63.2 percent of employees at private facilities in 2015; a similar percentage were employed as security staff at public correctional facilities. Professional treatment staff accounted for 12 percent of private correctional employees, followed by clerical (7.9 percent), educational (5.8 percent), and maintenance and food service (5.5 percent).
Private state prisons have higher proportions of minority employees compared with public prisons. Fifty-three percent of the staff at private facilities were white (table 11), whereas 31.7 percent (table 8) of the inmate population was white. At public facilities, the corresponding figures in 1995 were 71.3 percent (table 11) and 35.5 percent (table 8), respectively. The racial composition of staff to inmates was similar for blacks at both types of facilities. Blacks comprise 22.4 percent of the staff and 43.9 percent of inmates at private state prisons versus 20 percent of staff and 47.7 percent of inmates at public facilities. Hispanics, on the other hand, comprise 14.4 percent of the inmate population at federal and state public facilities but only 6.3 percent of the correctional staff. Among the 65 private state facilities surveyed, Hispanics made up 20.7 percent of the inmate population and 18 percent of the staff.
When the three facilities located in Puerto Rico were excluded from the analysis, the private facilities still had a larger percentage of Hispanic staff (13 percent staff and 17 percent inmate population) than those employed at public facilities.
According to the United States Bureau of Labor, the average starting salary for correctional officers in 2016 was $32,290. The number of staff hired and terminated is largely driven by the number of facilities in operation and facility size—large and medium-sized institutions tend to have higher staff turnover rates. Only one private facility in the United States is unionized.
Correctional officers in privately operated prison facilities are becoming increasingly more available as growth in the private prison industry continues year after year. Regardless how you feel about private interests getting involved in the housing of prisoners and the building of detention facilities for profit, the fact remains that for those seeking employment as a corrections officer, this is a solid way to go.
Figure 10.3 Rise of Private Prison Stock Prices from 2002 to 2012. Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication .
The privately-owned prison industry accounts for approximately 10% of the 2.3million prisoners currently being held in the United States at a cost of 55 million dollars per year.
There are a number of private prison operators in the United States but the two top companies are Corrections Corporation of America or ( CCA ) and The Geo Group , ( GEO ). Forty percent of the revenue that these companies receive is from the government for the housing of inmates and the operation of their private prison facilities. CCA is the largest private prison operator with about 67 facilities in the USA while The GEO Group has facilities both in the USA and internationally.


6.4: Stone
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On Crete writing is found on stone artefacts of various types. The Archanes script is found on three seals made of steatite (Godart 1999; Olivier and Godart 1996: #201, #203, #251; Schoep 2006: 45). This is a stone that is widely used on Crete as it is fairly soft and therefore easy to work. Two other seals with the Archanes script are made of marble and agate; as these stones are harder to work they may be later in date (Olivier and Godart 1996: #205, #292). Soft stones such as steatite or serpentine were used to make the earliest seals with inscriptions in Cretan Hieroglyphic. When the introduction of the horizontal bow-lathe in the 17th century bc made it possible to inscribe harder stones, red carnelian or green jasper also occur (Rehak and Younger 2001: 403). Serpentine and steatite were locally available on Crete, and there are a few sources of marble (Warren 1969: 134–135, 138–141). Green jasper (also known as antico verde ) was imported from the Greek mainland, while agate and carnelian may have come from Egypt. Most of the seals inscribed with Cretan Hieroglyphic have three or four faces, of which one or two carry writing. Seals were used to impress clay and the fact that the earliest writing on Crete is found on seals implies the use of clay sealings and possibly other types of documents made from clay from the time that writing was invented on Crete.
Inscriptions in Linear A are found on a number of stone vessels that have been classified as libation or offering tables (Schoep 1994; Warren 1969: 62–68; Figure 5 ). These offering tables belong to a fairly well-defined type; they are usually square in shape and have a round bowl in the centre. They are made of serpentine, steatite or limestone. The inscription is sometimes on the wide flat rim surrounding the bowl, but in some cases it is found on the sides of the table. A sharp, pointed implement was used to scratch the inscriptions onto the surface of the stone. The stone vases with inscriptions in Linear A date to the period of the new palaces. They have most often been found in cultic contexts, but some examples have been found in domestic contexts (Schoep 1994: 11). This practice of inscribing stone contrasts in material, purpose and context with the use of (recycled) clay in the administrative system of the palaces, surfaces fashioned expressly to carry writing.
On the Greek mainland writing is found on stone only very rarely. A fragment of schist with two Linear A signs was found at Ayios Stephanos in Lakonia (Janko 1982). It probably dates to the early Mycenaean period. The nature of the object is obscure, but it may be a weight. Two Linear A inscriptions on grave markers dating to the beginning of the Late Bronze Age have been illustrated by Evangelia Protonotariou-Deilaki (1990: fig. 28). One comes from Argos, the other from Grave Circle A at Mycenae.
Although perhaps not ‘writing’ strictly speaking, mention can also be made of the so-called mason’s marks which first appear at the beginning of the Middle Minoan period. These are signs that have been inscribed on stone building blocks, which would have been mostly, but not always, invisible after the building had been completed. Mason’s marks include the depiction of stars, double axes, branches and tridents, and they can be compared to signs in the Archanes Script, Cretan Hieroglyphic and Linear A. They have also in a few isolated cases been found on the Greek main-land. At Peristeria in Messenia two mason’s marks of Minoan type, a double axe and a branch, had been cut into the facade of Tholos 1, a monumental burial structure, while three, one trident and two branches, have been identified on stone blocks at Mycenae; a double axe occurs on a building block on a wall below the palace at Pylos (Hood 1984: 36; 1987).


14.7: Ethical Issues in Personal Selling and Sales Promotion
By the end of this section, you will be able to
- Discuss the ethical issues that may arise in personal selling.
- Discuss the ethical issues that may arise in sales promotion.
Ethical Issues in Personal Selling
The goal of sales is to create customer loyalty and repeat purchases. Developing the relationship with the customer is best done through honesty and integrity. Sales should always be conducted with a long-term goal of developing a lifetime customer and not just one sale.
However, with sales goals as the driving force behind the sales activities, the sales force can be pressured into practices that might be counter to building customer loyalty. Without proper regulation and a code of ethics, sales efforts can run afoul of ethical rules. Good sales managers seek to have control features built in to prevent the temptation to have a climate of dishonesty.
Ethical issues that can arise within the sales function of a company include dishonest claims about a product, slanderous comments about the competition, padding of company expense accounts and misuse of the expense account, artificially inflating sales data to meet goals and bonuses, and bribes and kickbacks.
Sales professionals are typically self-starters out in the field working with their customers. In a sales role, companies provide sales professionals with expense accounts and credit cards to work with and build relationships with clients. Without close supervision and company policies and guidelines, the sales professional can be tempted to participate in unethical practices. If a code of conduct is not present, it is often hard to resist the temptations. Some of the most common practices and temptations include misuse of the company credit card, inflating sales to reach goals, and receiving kickbacks.
Misuse of Company Credit Cards or Expense Accounts
Misuse of company credit cards and expense accounts can happen with any employee, but given the solitary nature of the sales professional, it is typically prone to happen more often with them. Because the work of the sales professional is fairly independent from the rest of the organization, it can create situations where there isn’t enough accountability. Misuse can happen through double billing, padding the expense account, or overcharging for expensed items.
To handle issues of expense misuse, it is best to have policies and procedures in place, along with a record of accounting for expenses and providing receipts for all expensed items.
Inflating Sales Data
Because sales professionals are often given sales targets and expectations to meet the targets, they are at risk of finding methods of inflating their sales numbers to meet the targets. If the sales professional gets behind or feels pressure to meet goals, it can be appealing to find methods of showing goal achievement. The method of inflating sales can also be termed channel stuffing. This practice happens when a company forces more products through the distribution channel than the channel is actually capable of selling.
When the sales organization calculates the sales targets based on shipments of products, the method of channel stuffing helps to meet the targets in the short term. However, long-term sales targets are adversely affected, especially if the channel partners return the products.
An example of how this might happen can be explained through a company that sells over-the-counter medicines. If it has products with an expiration date in a few months, it may ship all of the products with the near-term expiration date. When the products don’t sell within the expiration time frame, the products are shipped back for a return. The sales in the short term where high, and the targets were met. However, in the long term, the company faces a large shipment of returned product.
To meet sales goals and targets, Wells Fargo employees created millions of fraudulent savings and checking accounts for clients without their consent. Regulatory agencies such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) penalized the company and fined it $185 million for the illegal activity. 11
Accepting Kickbacks
Another unethical practice is when sales professionals accept kickbacks . There are many forms of kickbacks. Companies that deal internationally are often at the biggest risk for kickbacks, as it is common practice in some countries. Sales professionals who have long-term relationships can be tempted to take advantage of the situation, particularly if both sides profit from the scheme. There are many types of kickback schemes. Primarily, a kickback scheme involves two people who work together to change the pricing structure, and in turn, they both generally pocket some profit from the sale. Under the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) , it is unlawful to pay or promise to pay another person for the purpose of retaining their business.
Tentree is a sustainable clothing brand. Like many online stores and clothing brands, it regularly runs promotions, including a percentage off the purchase price when you sign up for their newsletter. But along with the typical consumer-oriented promotions, Tentree also plants 10 trees for every purchase (see Figure 14.5).
According to Tentree’s Facebook page, “We believe that big change starts small. Small as in bringing your reusable tote to the grocery store, getting your coffee refilled in a thermos, and choosing to wear sustainably made T-shirts. These small choices add up (trust us, we’ve done the math), and we’re here to celebrate each and every one of them. By planting 10 trees for every purchase, we hope to make big change accessible to everybody and show the lasting impact that one small choice can have” (Tentree, 2024).
So far, the company has planted over 81 million trees. The clothing it manufactures and sells is designed to have a very small environmental impact. And consumers are incentivized to purchase from Tentree because for every item purchased, the company plants 10 trees. Tentree has a goal that customers are pushing to reach—1 billion trees planted by 2030 (Tentree, 2021). Its earth-first philosophy is at the heart of every garment it sells.
Ethical Issues in Sales Promotions
When it comes to sales promotions, many ethical issues can arise. One of the most well-known issues with sales promotion happened with a popular McDonald’s game (see Figure 14.6). For years, McDonald’s ran its Monopoly game as a method to increase the consumer purchase of meals along with Monopoly game pieces that could net customers winnings from the fast-food giant. Not only was the game popular with customers, but it did exactly what the sales promotion was supposed to do: it increased sales. Unfortunately, the head of security for the company that ran the promotion and printed the game pieces took out all the winning game pieces in a scam worth $24 million (Huddleston, 2020).
Hidden Fees
One of the most common issues with ethics in sales promotion is in hidden fees that might be tacked on to the promotion. The travel and hospitality industry can be an example of the hidden fees often found in the fine print for the unwary customer looking for a “deal.” An airline might have advertised prices, but upon booking, the traveler may realize the baggage and airport fees make the price higher than other advertised rates. This can also be a common practice with hotels and resorts. The advertised price may look appealing, and the sales promotion may seem like a good deal, but by the time resort fees are tacked on to the price, the promotional discount isn’t as attractive.
Ambiguous Terms and Conditions
Legal documents have long been considered tricky to maneuver. A company may provide the terms and conditions and a link to click or simply acknowledge that you have read through the 15,000-word document for understanding. But does anybody really read the documents? Do consumers really understand what they are reading and agreeing to? Most likely, the legal jargon has gone unread, and the customer is typically unaware of what they have agreed to. However, it is in the company's best interest to look out for the best interests of its customers. If the end goal is long-term customer satisfaction, all of the company's work should focus on ensuring the customer is satisfied. Providing ambiguous terms and conditions really does nothing to protect the customer relationship.


5: Ethics, Corporate Responsibility, and Sustainability
After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer these questions:
- What are ethics and business ethics?
- What are the types of values that motivate ethics at the individual level?
- What are major ethical principles that can guide individuals and organizations?
- Why is ethical leadership important in organizations?
- What are differences between values-based ethics and compliance in organizations?
- What purpose can CSR (corporate social responsibility) offer to organizations and society?
- What ethical issues do organizations and individuals encounter in the global environment?
- What future near-term forecasts will affect ethical and corporate conduct of organizations?
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- 5.2: Ethics and Business Ethics Defined
- Ethics essentially involves how we act, live, lead our lives, and treat others. Our choices and decision-making processes and our moral principles and values that govern our behaviors regarding what is right and wrong are also part of ethics. Business ethics is applied ethics that focuses on real-world situations and the context and environment in which transactions occur—How should we apply our values to the way we conduct business?


27.2.1: C++ Examples
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Overview
C++ is a general-purpose programming language. It has imperative, object-oriented and generic programming features, while also providing facilities for low-level memory manipulation. C++ was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup at Bell Labs starting in 1979 as an extension of the C language. The C++ programming language was initially standardized in 1998. [1]
C++ is one of the most popular current programming languages [2] and is often used in computer science courses.
Example
Hello World
// This program displays "Hello world!" // // References: // http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/program_structure/ #include <iostream> int main() { std::cout << "Hello world!"; }
Output
Hello world!
Discussion
Each code element represents: [3]
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//
begins a comment -
#include <iostream>
includes standard input and output streams -
int main()
begins the main function, which returns an integer value -
{
begins a block of code -
std::cout
is standard output -
<<
directs the next element to standard output -
"Hello world!"
is the literal string to be displayed -
;
ends each line of C++ code -
}
ends a block of code
C++ IDEs
There are many free cloud-based and local IDEs available to begin coding in C++. Check with your instructor or do your own research for recommendations.
Local IDEs
- Code::Blocks
- Dev-C++
- Microsoft Visual Studio
References
- Wikiversity: Computer Programming
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Wikipedia: C++
↵
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TIOBE: Index
↵
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Wikibooks: Programming Fundamentals/Hello World
↵


8.1.6B: Measuring Poverty
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Poverty is defined by deprivation, and can be measured with economic or social indicators.
Learning Objectives
- Compare the differences between absolute and relative poverty
Key Points
- Economic measures of poverty include access to material needs, typically necessities such as food, clothing, shelter, and safe drinking water, measures of income, or measure of wealth.
- Social measures of poverty include access to information, education, health care, or political power.
- Absolute poverty refers to a fixed threshold based on access to income and material resources, while relative inequality is measured using a region’s median income and standard of living and therefore reflects income inequality.
- Relative poverty explains poverty as socially defined and dependent on social context. Usually, relative poverty is measured as the percentage of the population with income less than some fixed proportion of median income.
Key Terms
- World Bank : A group of five financial organizations whose purpose is economic development and the elimination of poverty.
- absolute poverty : A measure of poverty based on a set standard that is consistent over time and between countries, referring to the ability of individuals or groups to meet their basic needs.
- relative poverty : A measure of wealth inequality, describing an individual or group’s wealth relative to an other individual or group.
Economic measures of poverty focus on material needs, typically including the necessities of daily living such as food, clothing, shelter, or safe drinking water. Poverty in this sense may be understood as a condition in which a person or community is lacking in the basic needs for a minimum standard of well-being, particularly as a result of a persistent lack of income.
Social measures of poverty may include lack of access to information, education, health care, or political power. Poverty may also be understood as an aspect of inequitable social relationships, experienced as social exclusion, dependency, and/or diminished capacity to participate in society.
According to the World Bank, definitions of poverty include low income and the inability to acquire the basic goods and services necessary for survival with dignity. Poverty also encompasses low levels of health and education, poor access to clean water and sanitation, inadequate physical security, lack of voice, and insufficient capacity and opportunity to better one’s life.
Poverty is usually measured as either absolute or relative poverty. Absolute poverty refers to a set standard which is consistent over time and between countries. The World Bank uses this definition of poverty to label extreme poverty as living on less than US $1.25 per day, and moderate poverty as less than $2 or $5 a day.
Relative poverty explains poverty as socially defined and dependent on social context. Usually, relative poverty is measured as the percentage of the population with income less than some fixed proportion of median income. Relative poverty measures are used as official poverty rates in several developed countries and are measured according to several different income inequality metrics, including the Gini coefficient and the Theil Index. Measurements are usually based on a person’s yearly income and frequently take no account of total wealth.


2.19: Social Belonging
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After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third level of human needs is interpersonal and involves feelings of belongingness. This need is especially strong in childhood and it can override the need for safety as witnessed in children who cling to abusive parents. Deficiencies within this level of Maslow's hierarchy – due to hospitalism, neglect, shunning, ostracism, etc. – can adversely affect the individual's ability to form and maintain emotionally significant relationships in general, such as:
According to Maslow, humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance among their social groups, regardless whether these groups are large or small. For example, some large social groups may include clubs, co-workers, religious groups, professional organizations, sports teams, and gangs. Some examples of small social connections include family members, intimate partners, mentors, colleagues, and confidants. Humans need to love and be loved – both sexually and non-sexually – by others. Many people become susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and clinical depression in the absence of this love or belonging element. This need for belonging may overcome the physiological and security needs, depending on the strength of the peer pressure.


2 .
The nurse walks into a patient’s room and sees that they are practicing physical therapy exercises. They have a red and purple band on their table. As the nurse looks at their plan of care, they see that the plan indicates isokinetic exercises. The patient is standing performing shoulder raises with two-pound dumbbells. What education does the nurse need to provide the patient?
3 .
Lonnie is 65 years old, resides alone in an urban area that is not safe at night, and lives slightly above the poverty line. In addition, Lonnie uses the public bus system and shops for groceries once a month. During the week they may go to a drugstore to buy snacks and frozen meals. On their last medical visit, Lonnie was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and hearing loss. Give examples of internal and external factors that might impact Lonnie and their mobility.
4 .
Your patient, Rajendra, is a 16-year-old high school sophomore who runs the 400 m and 800 m on the track team. Rajendra is recovering from an ankle joint fracture and is newly using crutches. What obstacles may Rajendra face on his first day returning to school?
5 .
When sitting a patient who is immobile in a chair, what are some high-pressure areas you would have to ensure had proper cushioning to prevent pressure injury?
6 .
Describe how you would assess a patient’s limb with a cast. What signs or symptoms would indicate there was a problem?


9.1: Communication Competence
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In this section, we will cover techniques for understanding, expressing, and validating emotions, address contextual nuances surrounding emotional expression, and discuss ways in which our emotional expressions affect us and our relationships with others.
Effective Communication: Understanding, Expressing, and Validating Emotions
The notion of emotional intelligence emerged in the early 1990s and has received much attention in academic scholarship, business, education, and the popular press. Emotional intelligence “involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action” (Salovey, Woolery, & Mayer, 2001). As the definition of emotional intelligence states, we must then use the results of that cognitive process to guide our thoughts and actions. Just as we are likely to engage in emotion-sharing following an emotional event, we are also likely to be on the receiving end of that sharing. In order to better achieve your communication goals, it’s important to cultivate emotional intelligence. In the following subsections, we will provide strategies that will enable you to better understand and express your own emotions, as well as respond to the emotions of others
Understanding Emotions
Before we can communicate our emotions to others, we first need to understand what we are feeling and why we are feeling that way. Here are some suggestions we can use to better understand our emotions:
Accept your feelings.
Before we can do anything else, we have to recognize and accept that we are going to have a wide range of feelings throughout our lives, and that there is nothing wrong with this. At their outset, feelings are not right or wrong; they just exist. When we feel something, we need not be angry or worried. Instead, we can think, “I am feeling this way, and that is acceptable.”
Recognize how the body is reacting to your feelings.
Feelings are driven by emotions, which are controlled by our brain. We need to take note of our physiological responses when we feel something as this will help us to better cultivate emotional intelligence. For example, we might sweat when we feel scared, our face might become warm when we are embarrassed, and our heart might race when we are angry. Keying into our bodily responses will help us recognize feelings as they come.[1]
Understand the basic emotions and learn the vocabulary of feelings.
There are eight basic human emotions: anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise, anticipation, trust, and joy. It is important that we develop an emotional vocabulary as it can be hard to understand and likewise express what we are feeling when we do not have the words to do so. Consider consulting an emotional vocabulary chart, such as the one provided in section 9.1.1, to get a sense of the wide variety of things we might be feeling. Attending to a wide range of possible labels for emotion actually lends nuance and richness to our understanding of the feelings we experience in a given situation (Lindquist, MacCormack, & Shablack, 2015). Using nuanced labels can also influence the way our emotions are perceived by others when we communicate them.
Ask yourself what you are feeling and why you are feeling a certain way.
Cognitive psychologists assert that our feelings are caused by our thoughts or beliefs. It’s not often we examine and bring attention to these beliefs. Doing so can help us better understand ourselves, and later generate more productive expressions of feeling. Here is a series of questions we can ask ourselves to get at the root of what we are feeling: What am I feeling? Why am I feeling this way? If the feeling is in response to another’s behavior(s)- how do I interpret that behavior and/or why does it bother me? For example, What? “I feel like I am going to cry. Why? Because I am mad at my boss. Why? Because he offended me. Why? Because he does not respect me.” We need to keep going with the series of “why” questions until we reach the bottom-line thoughts that underlie our feelings.[4]
Look for irrational or distorted thoughts.
Before expressing your emotions to others, and in the interest of better managing negative emotions, you might consider examining them for rationality. Doing so will help you put another rung in your ladder of emotional intelligence. Psychologist Albert Ellis identified a number of dysfunctional beliefs people hold that can lead to unnecessary suffering. Therapists all over the world help their patients identify and work with these beliefs to decrease distress. Among these are the following:
• “I must have the approval of others in order to feel good.”
• “Other people must behave the way I want them to.”
• “Life should be easy and free of suffering.”
Ellis posited that these thoughts are unrealistic and can lead to struggle, making us feel “stuck.” With awareness, though, the thoughts can–over time—be replaced with more rational beliefs that lead to healthy functioning. Ask yourself if your negative emotions fit with any of these irrational beliefs. If so, try to reframe the beliefs and repeat them to yourself frequently. Such a practice can help you process and own your emotions before you blame them on others, which could end up having an unintentional but negative (and sometimes even irreversible) effect on your relationships.
Expressing Emotions:
(Image: © Cathy Thorne/ www.everydaypeoplecartoons.com ; printed with permission for use in Interpersonal Communication Abridged Textbook (I.C.A.T.))
Understanding our emotions is a key component of emotional intelligence. However, it is also important to know how to effectively communicate those emotions with others. Effectively communicating our emotions has two parts: planning and expressing:
PLANNING
Identify what emotion(s) you want to communicate.
In some situations, we may be feeling several different emotions. Communicating a certain emotion could have either a positive or negative effect on the relationship, so it’s helpful to put some forethought into which ones you want to share. Take some time to consider what you type of conversation you want to have, and what you might hope to get out of it. For example, if your partner has recently been spending time with another person, we may feel resentment and anger, but we might also feel lonely and jealous. In this situation, you could choose to express any of the emotions you feel. However, each will probably take you in a different conversational direction. Disclosing anger might evoke defensiveness. Disclosing jealousy might be perceived as insecurity. Disclosing loneliness might open you up to vulnerability. Remember, referring to an emotional vocabulary chart might help you see a range of options you haven’t considered. Whatever you decide, be honest and know that conversations about emotions are often difficult but can also ultimately lead to greater relational outcomes.
Understand why you want to communicate the emotion(s).
Before we express our emotions, it’s a good idea to think about our communication goal. In other words, consider what you hope will happen as a result of your expression. Communication goals for expressing emotions may include venting, validation, affirmation, seeking support, etc. Or we may want a specific result from communicating that emotion. For example, if we feel hurt that a friend has been canceling plans with us and we may want to express this so that they don’t continue to do so. When seeking a specific result, we need to make sure to take the time to identify our preferred solution beforehand.
Think about where, when, and how you want to communicate your emotions.
This is an important part of how our expression will be interpreted by the other person, and could affect how they will react and respond. Consider the physical location of your expression Would it be best in a crowded bar? A park? A family dinner? Additionally, consider the timing of the disclosure. If we are feeling hurt that our romantic partner did not get us a birthday card, we may not want to express this immediately after they come home from a stressful day at work or right before an important meeting. We also need to consider the intensity of our own emotions in choosing appropriate timing. Confronting someone when feeling rage is probably not a good idea. Take time to calm down, breathe, and examine underlying thoughts before we express ourselves. The old saying “never go to bed angry” is out of touch with emotional intelligence. Sometimes sleeping off anger and letting time reduce the intensity of negative emotions is exactly what’s needed before we say something we might regret. Finally, we need to consider how we are going to express our emotions, as in whether it would be best as a face-to-face interaction or via a mediated communication platform, such as text messaging.
EXPRESSING
Take ownership of your feelings and use “I” language.
Using “I” language describes our own feelings and reactions, and acknowledges ownership of them. Compare this to “you” messages, which negatively evaluate the other person’s behavior and places the blame on them. Consider the difference between “I feel worried when I don’t hear right back from you” vs. “You always ignore me!” Beware of starting off with an “I” statement and switching over to a “you” message, as this negates the purpose of using “I” language in the first place. For example, “I feel like you are neglecting me” is not really an “I” message expressing your own emotional reaction. It is, instead, a negative evaluation of another’s behavior. “You” statements such as “you make me feel…” places the blame for your feelings on the other and is likely to cause defensiveness. Instead, rephrase statements to so that they convey your own feelings, as in “I feel lonely when we don’t hang out together” or “I feel anxious because decisions aren’t being made.” Often times, people do not mean to intentionally cause us to experience a negative emotion with their actions, so it is likely to be more effective if we take responsibility for how we are decoding and interpreting the actions of others.
Describe the emotion(s), what behavior caused the emotion(s), and the ‘why’ of the emotion(s):
- The emotion(s): Explicitly state the emotion(s) you are experiencing. The more specific we can be, the more likely the other will understand what we are feeling. Here, it is important to have a rich and nuanced emotional vocabulary to better understand and express these emotions to others as emotions can be mild, moderate, or intense. For example, consider the difference between the terms sad, melancholy, and despondent.
- The behavior: Just as it is important to be able to describe the specific emotion, it is likewise important to describe the specific behavior(s) that triggered that emotion. For example, if our roommate leaves dirty dishes on the kitchen counter we may feel annoyed. When describing the behavior, we should state only what we’ve observed, objectively and specifically, and not in an evaluative or accusatory manner.  Instead we could say “I feel annoyed when dirty dishes are left in the kitchen” versus “I feel annoyed when you act like a jerk.” The latter statement also contains a “you” statement versus an “I” statement.
- The why: Finally, it’s useful if we include a why in our “I” statement. Consider expressing a reason for why the behavior bothers us and leads to our particular emotional reaction? The why offers an explanation, interpretation, effect, or consequence of the behavior. One example might be “I feel annoyed when dirty dishes are left around the kitchen because it attracts cockroaches.” When describing the why, attempt to avoid “you” language. For example, saying “I feel sad when our plans are broken because you are neglecting me” still inserts that problematic “you,” which suggests blame and could lead to defensiveness. Instead, consider something like “I feel sad when our plans are broken because I want to spend more time together.”
“You” can easily creep into all three parts of an “I” message, and can be tricky to avoid at first, so you may want to mentally rehearse or even write down what you plan to say. Also, it is a good idea to repeat the statement back to yourself and think about how you might respond if someone said they exact same thing to you in a similar situation. If it would cause you to react negatively or defensively, revise your statement.
You might find that, in some situations, avoiding “you” may not be productive. At times, it might be useful to share the thoughts we attach to another person’s behavior. We can share our perspective by using a phrase such as “I took it to mean…” In this case, “you” might show up in your interpretation. However, you can reduce the potential for defensiveness by using language that reflects tentativeness and ownership. An example of this is “I’m confused about the dishes being left because it seems out of the norm for you, and I’m wondering if there’s some sort of message in this.” Another example might be “I get frustrated when the dishes are left on the counter because I remember talking about this before and I feel like I’m not being heard.” We will learn more about language and actions that contribute to and reduce defensiveness in the next chapter, Chapter 10: Communication Climate.
Respect the other’s emotional reaction and boundaries.
When we share our emotions with others, expect them to likewise have an emotional reaction to what we disclose. Sometimes people may behave defensively, or become angry, or upset. While “I” messages are useful in helping reduce these negative reactions, it doesn’t always eliminate them. The other person may also experience emotions such as concern, confusion, uncertainty, etc., and may not know how to convey what they are feeling or how to respond. While we may have had the time and forethought to analyze our emotions and plan out what to say, others may not have had this opportunity, and may need some additional time to process the message. In situations like this, it is best to be patient and work to keep your own emotional reactions in check. In addition, listening to and responding to the emotions of others can make some people extremely uncomfortable, so it’s necessary to respect their emotional boundaries.
Responding to Emotions
(Image: © Cathy Thorne/ www.everydaypeoplecartoons.com ; printed with permission for use in Interpersonal Communication Abridged Textbook (I.C.A.T.))
Another aspect of emotional intelligence is being able to appropriately respond to another’s emotions, in a way that offers support. One way we can offer emotional support when someone is experiencing a negative emotion (such sadness or anger) is to validate the emotion. Validating the emotions of others is useful because people experience relief when their emotions are recognized and understood by others. In the section below, we cover some guidelines for validating another person’s emotions:
DO
Engage in a people-oriented listening style.
In Chapter 7: Listening, we discussed the various listening styles: people-oriented, action-oriented, content-oriented, and time-oriented. A competent communicator changes style based on the context. As such, a people-oriented style that focuses on the speaker’s feelings—versus an action-oriented style that focuses on problem-solving—would likely be more helpful.
Normalize and validate their reaction.
We can normalize and validate a person’s feelings by indicating that it is okay and understandable to feel a particular way. For example, we can say something like, “I think most people in that situation would feel that way.” This shows that we think their reactions are reasonable and acknowledges the person’s right to be experiencing their emotions. Try some of the following:[7] “It’s okay to be squeamish about your flu shot. Nobody likes those.” “Of course you’re worried about asking your boss for a promotion. This sort of thing is scary for everyone.” “You’ve been dealing with a lot of stress lately- no wonder you don’t feel like going out today.”
Help them elaborate on their feelings.
After someone has expressed themselves, we can help them elaborate a bit about what they’re feeling and why. Paraphrases are useful in these situations. For example, we could say something like, “I imagine you’re feeling pretty hurt?” Doing so will show the person their feelings matter to us and that we are trying to understand them, as well as helping them further explore and understand their own emotions.[5]
Acknowledge personal history.
We can also help by acknowledging how the person’s history affects their emotions. This can be especially helpful if someone is worried they’re being irrational or unreasonable. While the person may be reacting in a way that seems over-the-top, we can help them understand they’re still allowed to feel their feelings. Try things like the following:[8] “Given how Pat treated you, I totally understand why you’d want to take a break from dating. That’s a lot to recover from.” “After that wreck you were in last week, I can see why you’d be hesitant to get back behind the wheel.”
Help the person re-frame/re-appraise the situation.
After validating someone’s emotions, it can be useful to help them re-frame or re-appraise the situation. When we do this, we provide information or observations that they may have missed, and we can offer another perspective or opinion. This encourages the speaker to try to see the situation in a different light. For example, if a friend is upset because their romantic partner has been spending less time with them and they are worried the other is losing interest in the relationship, we may offer an observation that their partner may just be busier than normal due to the promotion they just received.
AVOID
Avoid correcting someone’s thoughts or telling them how to feel.
Avoid the tendency to attempt to correct someone’s thoughts or feelings, especially when they are upset. If someone is being irrational, we may be inclined to try to talk them out of it. However, this can come off as negating the person’s feelings, as in the example, “That’s not something that’s worth getting angry about.” In addition, telling someone to “calm down” may imply they are being irrational, may invalidate their feelings, and/or may come off as you trying to tell them how to feel. Also, it’s okay to disagree with someone, and we can acknowledge emotions and feelings without directly agreeing with someone’s message or behavior. Instead, we can say something like, “I understand why that would make you angry.”
Avoid giving unsolicited advice.
Many times, when people tell us about a problem, they just want to be heard. Before you say something like “just ignore them” or “look on the bright side,” stop and listen more closely to what they are saying, and focus on sympathizing first. Listening is an important first step to helping others. After listening and acknowledging feelings we can ask if and/or how we can help. Sometimes it can be unclear whether or not someone wants our help or advice, so we can simply ask “Are you coming to me for advice, or would you just like to vent?”
Avoid blaming.
Blaming someone for their feelings, especially when they’re very upset, may come off as suggesting their feelings are not valid. You may want to avoid responses such as these:[11] “Whining about it isn’t going to make it any better. Man up and deal with it.” “You’re overreacting.” “So you decided to be mad at your best friend. How’s that working for you?” “Well, maybe he wouldn’t have treated you that way if you hadn’t been wearing such a short skirt.”
Avoid trying to “hoover” their feelings.
Hoovering means vacuuming up any unpleasant feelings and pretending they aren’t there.[12] Examples include:[13]”Oh, it’s not so bad.” “It’s not a big deal.” “Let’s stay positive.” “Just toughen up.” “Look on the bright side.”
Avoid trying to fix their feelings.
Sometimes we may try to help our loved ones stop hurting simply because we don’t want them to be upset. While well-intended, it usually doesn’t help them feel better long-term, and they may feel like it is their fault for still being unhappy after our efforts.[14] Instead, we can help by listening to the whole story and validating their feelings along the way. Then, we can ask how we can help or offer to brainstorm solutions. If helping them brainstorm, we should be conscious that we aren’t telling them what to do. We can also phrase things to show that we are speaking for ourselves or from our own experience. We can do this by beginning our statements with phrases like, “For me,” “In my experience,” and “Personally.” For example, “In my experience, it’s best to let go of someone who doesn’t want to be in my life. I’d rather spend time with the people who matter, like you.”
Contextual Communication: Emotional Rules and Norms are influenced by the Context
Whether you are expressing your emotions or trying to understand and respond to the emotions of others, emotions, like all communication, are contextual. Physical context can play a key role in what type of emotion is appropriate to display. For example, it may be okay to cry at a funeral, but not in the workplace. The relationship we have with another person can also shape what should or shouldn’t be expressed. You probably should not share private emotions with a complete stranger while waiting in line at the grocery store and instead reserve those for people with whom you are close. Individuals also have different personalities and life experiences, so they vary in terms of what emotions they are comfortable expressing and how they interpret the behaviors of others.
While all contexts are important, two in particular shape the expression of emotions in significant ways: culture and co-culture
Culture
While our shared evolutionary past dictates some universal similarities in emotions, emotional triggers and norms for displaying emotions vary widely. Certain emotional scripts that we follow are culturally situated and affect our day to day interactions. Display rules are cultural norms that influence emotional expression. Display rules influence who can express emotions, which emotions can be expressed, where they can be expressed, and how intense the expressions can be. In individualistic cultures, where personal experience and self-determination are values built into cultural practices and communication, expressing emotions is viewed as a personal right. In collectivistic cultures, emotions are viewed as more interactional and less individual, which ties them into social context rather than into an individual right to free expression. An expression of emotion reflects on the family and cultural group rather than only on the individual. Therefore, emotional displays are more controlled, because maintaining group harmony and relationships is a primary cultural value, which is very different from the more individualistic notion of having the right to get something off your chest.
Cultural norms can also dictate which types of emotions can be expressed. In individualistic cultures, especially in the United States, there is a cultural expectation that people will exhibit positive emotions. People seek out happy situations and communicate positive emotions even when they do not necessarily feel positive emotions. Being positive implicitly communicates that you have achieved your personal goals, have a comfortable life, and have a healthy inner self (Mesquita & Albert, 2007). This cultural predisposition to express positive emotions is not universal. The people who live on the Pacific islands of Ifaluk do not encourage the expression of happiness, because they believe it will lead people to neglect their duties (Mesquita & Albert, 2007).
Co-Culture
While emotional display rules exist for larger cultural groups, they can also vary based on co-cultural factors, like gender identity. In the U.S. many norms have been socially constructed for emotional expression based on whether you present yourself as a man or woman. It is a common misconception that males do not (or should not) feel emotions and that females are ‘overly emotional.’  Gender is socially constructed, so our emotional expressions are based on the gendered scripts and norms we are given to follow. “Boys don’t cry” is one obvious example. Girls are likewise encouraged to express positive emotions by constantly being told things such as “you should smile more” or “you would look prettier if you smiled.”
In addition, the way an emotional expression is perceived by others is influenced by our gender identity. For example, if a female is not overly emotionally expressive they may be perceived as cold, or if they express anger they may be labeled a ‘bitch.’ Conversely, men may be called weak if they cry or ‘pussy-whipped’ if they express too much love and devotion in a relationship. Emotions such as jealousy may be romanticized and interpreted as ‘caring’ or ‘protective’ when exhibited by men, but may be construed as ‘clingy’ or ‘insecure’ for women.
Reflective Communication: Emotions Can Affect Us, Others, and Our Relationships
Emotional competence entails thinking about the potential effects of particular emotional expressions. Specifically, what we choose to express (or not to) may affect our own emotional well-being, the perception others may have of us, and our relationships with others.
How Emotions Affect Us
Expressing emotions can have important effects on our well-being, depending on how and with whom we share our emotions. Emotions convey information about our needs; negative emotions can signal that a need has not been met and positive emotions can signal that it has been meet. In some contexts, conveying this information can have a negative impact. For example, a person may choose to ignore or exploit our needs after we’ve disclosed an emotion.[30]
Researchers note that there are numerous important benefits to expressing emotions selectively. In the case of distress, expression can help us take control of our emotions and facilitate meaning-making to help better reappraise our situation. For instance, emotional expression through writing can help us better understand our feelings, and subsequently regulate our emotions or adjust our actions.[31] In addition, sharing our emotions with others can cause relief and inner satisfaction.
While expressing emotions has implications for how we feel, emotional expression can also influence how others see us, both positively and negatively. Individuals who inappropriately express emotions like anger or jealousy may be perceived as irrational. Individuals who express negative emotions, in particular, may also appear less likeable as a result.[33]
How Our Emotions Affect Others:
We should also be aware that our expressions of emotion are infectious due to emotional contagion, or the spreading of emotion from one person to another (Hargie, 2011). Think about a time when someone around you got the giggles and you couldn’t help but laugh along with them, even if you didn’t know what was funny. While those experiences can be uplifting, the other side of emotional contagion can be unpleasant. For example, if someone constantly interjects depressing comments into the happy dialogue, it can change the mood of the conversation. We’ve probably all worked with someone or had that family member who can’t seem to say anything positive, and this can cause frustration and annoyance.
How Emotions Affect Relationships
Emotional expression has implications for our relationships as well. Our social bonds are enhanced through emotion sharing because the support we receive from our relational partners increases our sense of closeness and interdependence. When someone responds to our emotional expressions with empathy and validation, our relationship with that person can improve. Additionally, emotional expression to someone else can be viewed as a form of disclosure and sign of trust with that person, thus promoting intimacy. Greater expression of emotions or willingness to express negative emotions, such as anxiety or fear, promotes the formation of more relationships, greater intimacy in those relationships, and more support from others.[30][33] Conversely, lack of sharing, lack of empathy, and invalidation of emotions can cause relationship dissatisfaction and even deterioration. Sharing our emotions may also be a necessary part of effective problem-solving and conflict management, a topic that will be covered in Chapter 11: Interpersonal Conflict.


3.6: Modes of Cultural Analysis
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- Jennifer Hasty, David G. Lewis, & Marjorie M. Snipes
- OpenStax
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Explain how evolutionary theories have been applied to the study of human culture.
- Identify two critiques of evolutionary approaches.
- Describe how anthropologists have studied the functionality of culture.
- Distinguish Malinowski’s functionalism from Radcliffe-Brown’s structural functionalism.
- Explain how ontological anthropology defines the study of reality.
Anthropologists have a number of ways of studying the elements and aggregates of culture. Some approaches emphasize the development of a particular aspect of culture over time, while other approaches examine how the different parts of culture fit together.
Evolution, Adaptation, and Historical Particularism
Some anthropologists are interested in the origins of human cultural forms and how these forms have changed over long periods of time. Just as Charles Darwin applied the notion of evolution to explain how biological species change over time, many 19th-century anthropologists used evolution to explain how cultures changed over time. This approach is called cultural evolutionism . Like Darwin, these anthropologists believed that simple forms evolved into more complex forms. Comparing different cultures of the world, they assigned the ones they considered more rudimentary to earlier evolutionary stages, while the ones they considered more complex were assigned to the more advanced stages. For example, British anthropologist Edward Tylor argued that human culture evolved from savagery through barbarism to civilization. He identified savagery with people who used gathering and hunting to meet their basic needs. The domestication of animals and plants was associated with barbarism. Civilization resulted from more advanced forms of farming, trade, and manufacturing as well as the development of the alphabet. Not surprisingly, British scholars identified their own culture as highly civilized.
Elaborating on Tylor’s scheme, American anthropologist Lewis Henry Morgan subdivided each of these three stages into an even more elaborate model and proposed a mechanism for moving from stage to stage. Morgan focused on technology as the primary driver of cultural evolution. New and better ways of making things, according to Morgan, resulted in new patterns of social practice and thought. Advanced technology was associated with advanced civilization.
But is technology the only measure of cultural accomplishment, or even the best one? Members of societies in which people gather and hunt for a living have vast stores of knowledge about their environments. Typically, they can name hundreds of plant species and tell when and where to find each of them. Many hunters can examine animal tracks to discern the species, sex, age, and condition of the animal as well as how long ago the tracks were laid. People in these societies also actively sustain and nurture diversity in their environments, careful to avoid depleting important resources. Is it really accurate to think of such cultures as simple? All cultures are complex, though in different ways. Technology is highly valued in American culture, while environmental knowledge and sustainability have historically been less valued. Is it any wonder that early American anthropologists ranked other cultures according to one of their own most cherished values? Perhaps people in more environmentally sustainable cultures might consider the United States to be an example of environmental savagery.
Both Tylor and Morgan, like most anthropologists of their day, thought that all cultures passed through this single set of stages in the march toward civilization. This kind of theory is called unilineal evolution . Disagreeing with this way of thinking, anthropologists such as Franz Boas argued that there is no single line of cultural evolution but that each culture changes according to its own unique historical trajectory. Moreover, cultures evolve not in isolation but in constant interaction with one another. Rather than focusing on technological changes within a culture, Boas highlighted the diffusion of material objects, practices, and ideas among cultures in complex relations of trade, migration, and conquest.
Though theories of unilineal cultural evolution have been largely abandoned, some anthropologists are still interested in discovering regular patterns that might govern how human cultures change over long periods of time. In the 1950s, American anthropologist Julian Steward developed an approach called cultural ecology , recognizing the importance of environmental factors by focusing on how humans adapt to various environments. Steward’s approach showed how humans in each environmental zone develop a set of core cultural features that enable them to make a living. Central to each cultural core are ways of getting or making all the resources necessary for human survival—in particular, food, clothing, and shelter. Similarly, anthropologist Marvin Harris developed a theory called cultural materialism , arguing that technology and economic factors are fundamental to culture, molding other features such as family life, religion, and politics.
Though recognizing the importance of cultural change, many anthropologists reject the notion that all cultures change according to a general universal model, such as cultural materialism. Drawing from the Boasian notion that each culture follows its own historical path; many cultural anthropologists analyze change in terms of historical particularism . In this approach, contemporary processes are understood as products of the unique combination of internal and external forces unfolding over time in a particular culture.
Functionalism
Rejecting the comparative unilineal models that assigned each culture to an evolutionary stage, a number of cultural anthropologists developed a radically different approach that attempts to understand each contemporary culture in its own terms. Functionalism seeks to understand the purpose of the elements and aggregates of culture in the here and now.
Bronislaw Malinowski, an early proponent of this approach, argued that the function of culture is to meet human needs. All humans need to satisfy the need for food, clothing, and shelter. The fundamental purpose of culture is to provide a means of satisfying those needs. In the course of meeting those basic needs, humans in all cultures develop a set of derived needs—that is, needs derived from the basic ones. Derived needs include the need to organize work and distribute resources. Family structures and gender roles are examples of cultural elements addressing these derived needs. Finally, cultures also address a set of integrative needs, providing people with guiding values and purpose in life. Religion, law, and ideologies fulfill these integrative needs. Malinowski sought to understand both the biological and psychological functions of culture.
At first glance, this approach may not seem all that different from evolutionary approaches that identify the core set of cultural features devoted to human survival. What was so different in Malinowski’s approach was his attempt to show that even so-called primitive societies had functionally complex cultural systems for meeting the full array of human needs. Malinowski’s three-volume ethnography of the economics, religion, and kinship of the Trobriand people of Papua New Guinea demonstrated this fact in striking and elaborate detail.
A second version of functionalism, advocated by British anthropologist Alfred R. Radcliffe-Brown, identified the functions of various elements of culture in a slightly different way. Rather than looking for the way culture satisfies biological or psychological needs, structural functionalism focused more on how the various structures in society reinforce one another. Culture is not a random assortment of structural features but a set of structures that fit together into a coherent whole. Common norms and values are threaded through the family structure, the economy, the political system, and the religion of a culture. Structural functionalists conceptualized culture as a kind of machine with many small parts all working in tandem to keep the machine operating properly. While recognizing the value of this approach, contemporary anthropologists have complicated the mechanistic model of culture by pointing out that the various elements of culture come into conflict just as often as they reinforce one another. Although few anthropologists would now identify themselves as structural functionalists, the holistic approach to culture as an integrated system is derived from this important theoretical foundation.
Structuralism
In the previous paragraph, you learned about structural functionalism, an approach that marries functionalism with social structure. In a different sense, the term structure can refer to patterns of thought embedded in the culture of a people—that is, conceptual structure. French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss pioneered this approach, sometimes called French structuralism . Lévi-Strauss considered culture to be a system of symbols that could be analyzed in the various realms of culture, including myths, religion, and kinship. In these realms of culture, objects and people are organized into symbolic systems of classification, often structured around binary oppositions. Binary oppositions are pairs of terms that are opposite in meaning, such as light/dark, female/male, and good/evil. For example, kinship systems are varied and complex, but they are fundamentally structured by oppositions such as male versus female, older versus younger, and relation by blood versus relation by marriage. Lévi-Strauss examined myths as well, showing how the characters and plots emphasize binary oppositions. Consider the many European folktales featuring an evil stepmother (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty), a character that combines the opposition of good versus evil with the opposition of blood relation versus relation by marriage. Lévi-Strauss argued that myths operate as public arenas for conceptually pondering and processing the fundamental categories and relations of a culture.
Ontology
In recent decades, some cultural anthropologists have come to focus on the nature of reality, including but not limited to human perspectives and experiences. Ontology is the study of the true nature of existence. In some cultures, for instance, the social world consists not only of embodied persons but also of spirit beings, such as ancestors and witches, who interact with people in mysterious ways. And in some cultures, people are not just bodies but assemblages that include souls, spirits, characters, or fates. Ontological anthropology explores how culture constructs our social and natural realities, what we consider real, and how we act on those assumptions. Reaching beyond human realities, ontological anthropology also attempts to include nonhuman perspectives, relationships, and forms of communication.
For instance, in his provocative ethnography How Forests Think (2013), anthropologist Eduardo Kohn describes how the web of life in the Amazon rainforest consists of continual communication among plants, animals, and humans. He examines how Amazonian peoples engage with dogs, spirits, the dead, pumas, rivers, and even sounds. Humans and these nonhuman beings are both antagonistic and interdependent in this interactive web. Predators and prey read one another’s behavior, interpreting intentions and motivations. Kohn’s effort is to get beyond conventional modes of human thought and language to understand how humans are embedded in nonhuman ecological realities.
Profiles in Anthropology
Dame Mary Douglas (1921–2007)
Personal History: Mary Douglas was born in San Remo, Italy; her British parents had stopped off on their way home from Burma, where her father had been working as a colonial civil servant. As children, Mary and her younger sister lived with their mother’s parents in England until they were old enough to be sent to Catholic boarding school—a fairly common practice for the children of colonial officers. After the death of her mother and her dearly loved maternal grandfather, young Mary found security in the order and routine of the convent school (Lyons 2011). This respect for rules and order combined with a reverence for the Catholic Church to shape her lifelong commitment to studying the sacred aspects of the social order.
Area of Anthropology: At Oxford, Douglas studied with the prominent structural functionalist E. E. Evans-Pritchard. From him, she learned that African belief systems such as witchcraft were structured by an underlying logic. In this approach, the goal of fieldwork is to examine oral forms of culture as well as ritual and social practice in order to discern the underlying logic that governs culture as a whole. Douglass went to the Kasai region of what was then the Belgian Congo, where she studied how the Lele people used animals in practical and symbolic ways. She was particularly interested in a strange animal called the pangolin. Though a mammal, the pangolin has scales and no teeth.
Douglas described how the Lele observed a fundamental distinction between edible and inedible animals. Animals who lived among humans, such as rats and domesticated chickens, were considered part of society and therefore inedible (most of the time). Only wild animals were considered food. Pangolins are wild animals, but the Lele did not eat them (usually). Why? Douglas argued that the weirdness of the pangolin made people single it out for special consideration. Pangolins have scales like fish, but they live on land and climb trees. They look vaguely reptilian, but they do not lay eggs, instead giving birth to live young. Rather than teeth, they have long snouts that they use to vacuum up small insects. Thus, the pangolin defied the conventional categories the Lele used for dividing up the animal world. This breach of categories made the pangolin both repellent and sacred to the Lele. Members of a special fertility cult engaged in rituals in which they ate pangolins to ingest the power of this anomalous animal.
As this examination of cultural categories and anomalies suggests, Douglas was also influenced by Claude Lévi-Strauss and the approach of French structuralism. Like Lévi-Strauss, Douglas viewed culture as a coherent system of categories that were expressed in oral culture and social practice.
Accomplishments in the Field: Following her work on the Lele people, Douglas went on to conduct a broadly comparative study of objects, practices, and people that were considered ritually dangerous, subject to rules of prohibition called taboos. She showed how the subjects of taboos are often “matter out of place” (Douglas 1966, 44), things that defy conventional categories for dividing up the social and natural world. In her most famous work, Purity and Danger (1966), Douglas examines a wide range of taboos, such as rules against eating certain foods or engaging in sex at certain times or with certain persons. She examines the set of social and dietary rules established by ancient Hebrews, detailed in the book of Leviticus in the Old Testament. According to these rules, the Jewish people were forbidden from eating pigs, shellfish, and certain wild animals. They were not allowed to wear garments made of cloth that combined different fibers—such as, for example, a linen-cotton blend.  In fact, women were considered so unclean during menstruation that anyone or anything that touched a menstruating woman became contaminated for the rest of that day.
What do all of these prohibitions have in common? Douglas shows how each forbidden object or condition produced discomfort because it transgressed conventional categories. Shellfish, for instance, are sea animals, but they don’t have fins or scales, and many of them do not swim. Menstruation is blood loss, but it does not indicate injury. Moreover, menstruation is hidden and connected to the dangerous states of pregnancy and childbirth. In Hebrew law, menstruation itself was considered a dangerous and contaminating exception to the purity of persons and objects.
In her later work, Douglas applied this style of analysis to a variety of other social phenomena, including humor and trickster figures. She argued that humor functions as a release for thoughts and actions that might threaten the social order. Whereas taboos regulate and prohibit interaction with dangerous objects, animals, and people, humor seeks to sap them of their dangerous power by making light of them.
Importance of Her Work: After more than 25 years of teaching at the University of London, Douglas moved to the United States, where she held positions at the Russell Sage Foundation and Northwestern University. She continued to publish widely on such topics as consumerism, environmental risk, and decision-making in bureaucracies. When she retired, she moved back to England. In 2006, she was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. She died in 2007 at the age of 86.