Culture And Society: Social Studies Terms Explained
Plain-language definitions of every culture and society term your child meets in school, each with kid-friendly explanations, worked examples, and common mistakes to watch for.
Assimilation
Assimilation is when people from one culture gradually adopt the language, customs, and everyday habits of another culture, often the dominant one, so they start to live and act more like members of that new group.
Belonging
Belonging is the feeling of being accepted, valued, and included in a group, place, or community, and knowing that who you are is respected there.
Celebration
A celebration is a special time when people come together to mark an important event or feeling, often with shared activities like meals, music, games, or ceremonies that show joy, respect, or remembrance.
Community
A community is a group of people who share a place, interest, culture, or goal and who interact with and depend on one another in some way.
Cooperation
Cooperation is when people work together, share effort, and coordinate their actions to reach a goal that helps everyone involved.
Cultural diffusion
Cultural diffusion is the process of ideas, beliefs, customs, and goods spreading from one culture to another, often changing both cultures along the way.
Cultural region
A cultural region is an area where many people share similar ways of life, such as language, religion, traditions, food, or family customs, which makes that place feel different from other areas around it.
Culture
Culture is the shared way of life of a group of people, including their language, beliefs, values, traditions, arts, and everyday behaviors that are learned and passed from one generation to the next.
Custom
A custom is a usual way of doing things in a group, community, or culture that people repeat over time and often expect each other to follow.
Discrimination
Discrimination is unfair treatment of a person or group because of who they are, such as their race, gender, religion, disability, age, or other personal traits, instead of how they act or what they can do.
Diversity
Diversity is the variety of different people, backgrounds, and ideas in a group, including differences in culture, language, race, religion, abilities, family structure, and more, and the way those differences are respected and valued.
Ethnicity
Ethnicity is a way of grouping people based on shared cultural traits, such as where their ancestors came from, the language they speak, traditions they follow, and beliefs they share.
Family structure
Family structure is the way a family is organized, including who lives in the household, how people are related to one another, and the roles they play in family life.
Folklore
Folklore is the stories, sayings, songs, and traditions that are passed down by people in a community, usually by word of mouth, to share their history, beliefs, and values.
Generation
A generation is a group of people born and living around the same time, usually about 20 to 30 years apart from the generations before and after them, who often share similar life experiences, values, and cultural influences.
Heritage
Heritage is the traditions, beliefs, values, stories, and objects that are passed down from earlier generations and help shape a person’s or group’s identity.
Holiday
A holiday is a special day that people set aside to rest, remember, or celebrate something important, such as a historical event, a religious belief, or a shared tradition.
Identity
Identity is the way a person understands and describes who they are, including their name, beliefs, culture, family, interests, and the groups they belong to.
Migration
Migration is the movement of people from one place to live in another place, either within a country or across country borders, usually for reasons like work, safety, family, or better living conditions.
Neighborhood
A neighborhood is a small area where people live near one another, share local places like parks and stores, and interact as part of a larger town or city.
Prejudice
Prejudice is an unfair and usually negative opinion about a person or group that is formed before knowing them as individuals, often based on things like race, religion, gender, age, or culture.
Society
Society is a large group of people who live in the same area, share rules and institutions, and interact with one another over time.
Stereotype
A stereotype is a fixed, oversimplified idea about a group of people that assumes everyone in that group is the same, instead of seeing each person as an individual.
Tolerance
Tolerance is respectful acceptance of people who are different from you in their beliefs, cultures, or ways of life, even when you do not agree with them.
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