What is culture, and how far is human behaviour shaped by nature or by nurture?
Culture, norms, values, roles and status, the idea of cultural diversity, and the nature versus nurture debate about how far human behaviour is innate or learned.
An SQA Higher Sociology answer on culture and the nature versus nurture debate. Covers the meaning of culture, norms, values, roles and status, cultural diversity including subcultures, and the debate over how far human behaviour is innate (nature) or learned through socialisation (nurture).
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this dot point is asking
The SQA wants you to explain what culture is, its building blocks (norms, values, roles, status), and the nature versus nurture debate about how far human behaviour is innate or learned. This is the foundation of the Culture and Identity area: it sets up why sociologists argue most behaviour is shaped by society rather than biology.
The answer
What culture is
Norms, values, roles and status
Cultural diversity and subcultures
The nature versus nurture debate
Why this matters for the rest of the course
The claim that culture and identity are learned underpins everything in this area. If behaviour were simply natural, there would be little for sociology to explain; because it is learned and varies, socialisation, identity, class, gender and ethnicity can all be studied as social products.
Examples in context
Greetings show culture and the nature-nurture debate at work. In one society people shake hands, in another they bow, and in another they kiss on both cheeks: the same human need to greet is expressed through very different norms, which a person learns as a child without ever being formally taught. This variation is hard to explain by biology, since humans everywhere share the same genes, so it points strongly to nurture. Cases of feral children, raised in isolation, reinforce the point: lacking normal socialisation, they typically do not develop ordinary language or social behaviour. Most sociologists therefore conclude that, while biology sets some limits, culture and socialisation do the heavy lifting, which is exactly the balanced judgement a "nature versus nurture" answer should reach.
Try this
Q1. Explain the difference between a norm and a value, using examples. [4 marks]
- Cue. A norm is an expected behaviour (queuing); a value is a deeper shared belief about what is important (fairness).
Q2. Explain why most sociologists favour nurture over nature. [4 marks]
- Cue. Culture and norms vary widely between societies and can change, which biology alone cannot explain; feral-child cases support the role of socialisation.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA Higher specimen8 marksExplain what sociologists mean by culture, using examples.Show worked answer →
An -mark "explain" question. Markers want an accurate meaning developed with concepts and examples.
Culture is the whole way of life of a society: its norms (rules of behaviour), values (shared beliefs about what is important), customs, language, beliefs and material objects, all of which are learned and shared.
Develop it by explaining that culture is learned, not inborn, and passed on through socialisation, and that it varies between societies (cultural diversity). Examples such as differing norms around greetings, food or dress earn the developed marks.
SQA Higher 201912 marksAnalyse the nature versus nurture debate about human behaviour.Show worked answer →
A -mark "analyse" question. Markers reward developed explanation of both sides and how they connect.
The nature side argues behaviour is largely innate, driven by biology and genes. The nurture side, which most sociologists favour, argues behaviour is mainly learned through socialisation and culture, pointing to cultural diversity and cases of feral children as evidence.
Analysis marks come from weighing the evidence, for example that the huge variation in norms and roles between cultures is hard to explain by biology alone, while accepting that most behaviour involves an interaction of the two. A clear judgement towards nurture, with reasons, is the discriminator.
Related dot points
- Socialisation: how people learn the norms and values of their society, the difference between primary and secondary socialisation, and the main agents of socialisation including the family, education, peers, the media and religion.
An SQA Higher Sociology answer on socialisation. Covers how people learn the norms and values of their society, the difference between primary and secondary socialisation, the main agents (family, education, peer group, media and religion), and how socialisation reproduces culture and shapes identity.
- Identity and the social construction of identity: personal and social identity, how identities are formed through socialisation and interaction, and the idea that identity is increasingly chosen rather than fixed.
An SQA Higher Sociology answer on identity and its social construction. Covers personal and social identity, how identities such as class, gender and ethnic identity are formed through socialisation and interaction, the idea that identity is socially constructed rather than natural, and the view that identity is increasingly a matter of choice.
- Social class and identity: how class is defined and measured, how class shapes identity and life chances, and the debate over whether class identity is declining in modern society.
An SQA Higher Sociology answer on social class and identity. Covers how class is defined and measured, how class shapes identity, culture and life chances, the evidence that class still matters, and the debate over whether class identity is declining as postmodernists argue.
- Gender and identity: the difference between sex and gender, how gender identity is formed through gender-role socialisation, the agents involved, and the debate over how far gender is socially constructed.
An SQA Higher Sociology answer on gender and identity. Covers the difference between sex and gender, how gender identity is formed through gender-role socialisation by the family, school, peers and media, the feminist view that gender is socially constructed, and the debate with biological explanations.
- The functionalist (consensus) perspective: how it explains social order, the key thinkers and concepts, and its strengths and weaknesses as a way of understanding human society.
An SQA Higher Sociology answer on functionalism, the consensus perspective. Covers how functionalists explain social order through shared values and institutions, the key thinkers Durkheim and Parsons, core concepts such as value consensus and social functions, and the main criticisms from conflict and social action sociologists.
Sources & how we know this
- SQA Higher Sociology Course Specification (C868 76) — SQA (2019)