27 Examples of Cultural Perspective

John Spacey, updated on May 30, 2023

Cultural perspective is the process of understanding things in terms of the culture that surrounds them. People naturally tend to view things in terms of the norms, symbols and values of their own cultures. As such, the term cultural perspective refers to trying to understand events in cultures outside your own with knowledge of the culture in which they occur. The following are common examples of a cultural perspective.

Values	Language
Symbols	Norms
History	Heritage
Practices	Beliefs
Expectations	Roles
Traditions	Identity
Customs	Rituals
Way of life	Pastimes
Taboos	Perceptions
Sensibilities	Etiquette
Religion	Folklore
Myths	Proverbs
Superstitions	Ethical codes
Aesthetics

Cultural perspective is the process of understanding things in terms of the cultural context in which they occur. This should not be confused with cultural relativism -- the idea that universal truths do not exist such that culture can't be evaluated by outsiders. Cultural relativism is based on relativism -- the idea that universal reality and knowledge do not exist such that only subjective experience is real.

Cultural relativism would imply that you have no insight or right to evaluate cultures outside your own. This would create an academic freeze and tribalism whereby what history, cultures and societies you can research is based on your identity.

Overview: Cultural Perspective
Type	Perspectives
Definition	The process of understanding things in terms of the culture that surrounds them.
Not To Be Confused With	Cultural relativism - the idea that universal reality doesn't exist such that a culture can never be criticized from the outside.
Related Concepts	Perspectives » Relativism »