For Parsons, culture is distinguished from
 1. physical environment
and 2. individual personality.

Culture links elements of society together. Individuals can only meet in a culture which allows communication between them.. People interpret the physical world through symbols - words - that are part of their culture:

a social system consists of a plurality of individual actors inter-acting with each other in a situation which has at least a physical or an environmental aspect,  actors  .....  whose relation to their situation, including each other is defined and mediated in terms of a system of culturally standard and shared symbols.    

Society is not possible without a shared culture. A shared culture is a functional pre-requisite.

Culture and socialisation.

Culture is passed on to children though socialisation in the family. Children learn status and roles through the family.

Culture is not  passed on without modification,

Culture constrains and limits behaviour but can change through inter-action. If actions are not repeated in behaviour, culture can change.

The process of the influence of culture on social  change is a slow one. Not everyone shares the same culture. According to Parsons,  most members of a society share most aspects of their particular culture for the society to function and survive. Like Durkheim, Parsons saw culture as gradually evolving..

Parsons created the idea of pattern variables.  Two can be distinguished.
 Pattern Variable A
  present in simple societies
  relies on ascription
  people are seen for who they are.
 Pattern Variable B
  present in more complex societies.
  based on achievement
  rewards are dependent on achievement and what people can do.
Societies based on achievement are fairer and more efficient.

Criticisms of Parsons

1. Parsons exaggerates the extent of common culture in contemporary society.

2. Parsons overestimates the extent to which people conform or are willing to conform.
But
 Parsons is clear that not everyone shares an identical culture.

3 Societies in the twenty-first century have great diversity which raises questions as to how far culture can be shared.

For example, Britain in 2001 has diversity in

1. Regional allegiance The inhabitants of Scotland feel Scots first and Britons second, despite what Gordon Brown tries to proclaim. Both the inhabitants of Wales and the diaspora are Welsh in their nationality not British, in spite of the fact that a linguistic historian would regarded them as British because they speak a language which is Brythonic, that is P-Celtic not Q-Celtic.
 In England, Yorkshiremen put their county before their country (which is England).

 
2. Religion.  No longer is the Church of England the national church even of England. It never has been the national church in Scotland: this is the Church of Scotland, a Presbyterian (Calvinist) denomination. The Anglican Church in Scotland is called the Episcopal Church. It could be argued that in a post-Christian society, even Christianity is not universal in Britain. Both Islam and Hinduism have strong followings, in some cities greater than those of any single branch of the Christian religion.

3. Ethnicity. Until 1950, the inhabitants of the British Isles were white-skinned and brown-haired. Immigration from the Caribbean, Africa, and the Indian sub-continent has meant that up to 15% of all Britons are not white and that some cities - Leicester and Birmingham are examples - have a majority of non-white inhabitants.