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cultural environment
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the social, economic, political, and historical factors that shape an individual’s experiences and beliefs in a particular culture
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cultural group
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a group formed through the unification of shared activities and values
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cultural pluralism
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a state of having one dominant culture in which all minority groups participate fully
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culture
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a historically transmitted pattern of meaning based upon learned and shared values, beliefs, attitudes, and customs that involves patterned responses to behavior and distinguishes the members of one group of people from others
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diversity
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the representation and relative size of different groups, such as racial and ethnic groups, in a population
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enculturation
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the social acquisition of cultural patterns of behavior
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environmental control
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an individual’s control over nature and environmental factors, views of which affect illness and health-seeking behaviors
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ethnicity
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inherited affiliation with a group that is defined by shared cultural traits, such as language, religion, nationality, history, or other cultural factors
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heterogeneous society
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a society that is made up of multiple cultures
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homogeneous society
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a society that is primarily made up of only one dominant culture
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intersectionality
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the interconnectedness of social identities, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status, and how they overlap and intersect to create unique experiences of privilege or oppression
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multiculturalism
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the coexistence of diverse religious, ethnic, or cultural groups in a society while adhering to the same rules, with no single culture holding more importance than the others
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nationality
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an individual’s county of citizenship
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natural events
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events that are considered an inherent aspect of the world and are perceived to have some degree of predictability and be subject to some element of control
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nonverbal communication
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the conveying of messages without words
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personal dimension
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the “friend zone,” in which communication with less intimate but still familiar companions occurs
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race
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a societal construct commonly defined by physical characteristics, such as bone structure, skin, hair, or eye color, as well as social factors and cultural backgrounds; not biologically predetermined
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social dimension
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the impersonal business zone, associated with people who are working together
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space
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the setting where communication takes place; includes the space surrounding a person’s body and the objects in that space
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subculture
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a smaller group in a cultural group that shares distinguishing characteristics that may identify with aspects of its larger parent culture
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unnatural events
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viewed as the consequence of disharmony in nature and are often associated with forces of evil; not predictable and beyond human control
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verbal communication
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the conveying of messages through the use of words