Definitions of Culture Lag
- (noun) The period of time between the introduction of new technological developments (material culture) into a culture or society and the acceptance of the developments by legal and moral institutions (nonmaterial culture) in a culture or society.
- (noun) (informal) The time it takes for culture to catch up to innovations in technology.
Example of Culture Lag
- Laws and mores adapting to medical science’s ability to keep an individual alive through artificial means.
Etymology of Culture Lag
- Coined by William F. Ogburn (1886–1959) in Social Change with Respect to Culture and Original Nature (1922).
- Read and download from Archive.org.
Culture Lag Pronunciation
Syllabification: cul·ture lag
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /kUHl-chuhr lAg/
- British English – /kUHl-chuh lAg/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈkʌlʧər læg/
- British English – /ˈkʌlʧə læg/
Usage Notes
- Plural: culture lags
- The period of time between introduction and acceptance of a technological development leads to conflicts and social problems.
- Also called:
- cultural lag
- cultural lag theory
Related Videos
Additional Information
- Word origin of “culture” and “lag” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Choukas, Michael. 1936. “The Concept of Cultural Lag Re-examined.” American Sociological Review 1(5):752–60. doi:10.2307/2084134.
- Hall, Edward T. 1976. Beyond Culture. New York: Doubleday.
- Hickman, Charles Addison. 1947. World Economic Problems: Nationalism, Technology & Cultural Lag. New York: Pitman.
- Ogburn, William F. 1922. Social Change with Respect to Culture and Human Nature. New York: Dell.
- Ogburn, William F. 1964. On Culture and Social Change: Selected Papers. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Woodard, James Wroten. 1935. Intellectual Realism and Culture Change: A Preliminary Study of Reification. Hanover, NH: Sociological Press.
- Everyday Sociology Blog – Technology and Cultural Lag: everydaysociologyblog.com
- Sociology Guide – Cultural Lag: sociologyguide.com
- The Sociology of Educational Technology – The Cultural Lag Theory: sites.google.com
Related Terms
- automation
- digital divide
- capitalism
- e-readiness
- knowledge gap
- material culture
- neo-Luddite
- non-material culture
- planned obsolescence
- technological diffusion
- technology
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Cite the Definition of Culture Lag
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “culture lag.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved June 5, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/culture-lag/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
culture lag. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/culture-lag/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “culture lag.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed June 5, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/culture-lag/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“culture lag.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 5 Jun. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/culture-lag/>.