ABSTRACT
Culture is ubiquitous, multidimensional, and complex. It affects each and every one of us, every day, in many aspects of our lives. It is the framework that informs us how to respond to events, objects, and people in our environment without conscious thought: “A blueprint for all life’s activities” (Porter & Samovar, 1998, p. 456). Despite its omnipresence, the nature of culture is difficult to describe, and definitions of culture are as widespread and varied as are cultures themselves. Examination of the current literature suggests that characterizations range from simple descriptions such as “webs of significance” (Haslett, 1990, p. 331) to highly elaborate and declamatory definitions such as “the total lifestyle of people from a particular social grouping, including all the ideas, symbols, preferences, and material objects they share” (Franzoi, 1996, p. 15).
