Scholars have long examined similarities and differences between societies’ cultures surrounding alcohol consumption in order to explain the variations in problem drinking across societies. Cultural systems refer to the interconnections among these different elements of culture that govern our behaviors and interactions with others and keep some order in society. 12), consider culture as “a sociopsychological construct, a sharing across people of psychological phenomena such as values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.” Culture encompasses everything, including material objects (e.g., the drinkware used for a specific alcoholic beverage), symbols (e.g., languages used to describe “inebriation”), practices (e.g., rituals for drinking), norms (e.g., accepted behaviors while intoxicated), beliefs (e.g., expectations of psychoactive effects of alcohol), and values (e.g., the importance of alcohol in a religion). Cross-cultural psychologists, Matsumoto and Juang (2004, p. There have been almost as many definitions of culture offered as there are people who study culture.

Thus drinking in a particular society may be either a sacred or a profane act, depending on the context, and the people may not be aware of the basic principles and meaning that are actually involved. The meanings of drinking, its relation to other aspects of the culture and society, are usually more implicit. The form is usually quite explicitly stipulated, including the kind of drink that can be used, the amount and rate of intake, the time and place of drinking, the accompanying ritual, the sex and age of the drinker, the roles involved in drinking, and the role behavior proper to drinking. Alcohol is a cultural artifact the form and meanings of drinking alcoholic beverages are culturally defined, as are the uses of any other major artifact.

Cultural artifact meaning