Patterns or traits that are globally common to all societies
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What elements are common across all cultures? What are things that everybody needs or does regardless of their background? Independently of our background, there are everyday activities, values, and cultural expressions that are present across cultures. We all share commonalities, known as cultural universals; the differences emerge in how we express them. In other words, when they become culture-specific. Show
Cultural universals are human activities, organizational patterns, characteristics, or traits that are common to all societies around the world. To understand the difference between a cultural universal and a culture-specific activity, consider this example discussing the family unit:
Learning to distinguish between a cultural universal (e.g., family structure and sexual reproduction) and socio-cultural characteristics associated with a group or subgroup (e.g., nuclear vs extended families, same sex or different sex parents) will help you gain a better idea of how behaviours, values, and knowledge are defined within a given culture and across cultures. Activity: Identifying Cultural UniversalsLook at the items in the following list and classify the elements into cultural universals (elements present in all cultures) or culture-specific attributes (behaviours specific to certain cultures): To expand your knowledge of human activities and traits present around the world, explore the following list of cultural universals. As you read, it may be useful to think about how any of these examples may be expressed in different cultures based on your own cultural background and what you know about other cultural groups. For example, in mainstream North American cultures, wearing black is common during funeral rites, whereas in some Eastern countries, the colour associated with these rites is white. \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)
CULTURAL UNIVERSALSOften, a comparison of one culture to another will reveal obvious differences, but all cultures also share common elements. Cultural universals are patterns or traits that are found in all cultures. Anthropologist George Murdock first recognized the existence of cultural universals while studying systems of kinship around the world. Murdock found that cultural universals often revolve around basic human survival, such as finding food, clothing, and shelter, or around shared human experiences, such as birth and death or illness and healing. Through his research, Murdock identified other universals including language, the concept of personal names, and, interestingly, jokes. Humor seems to be a universal way to release tensions and create a sense of unity among people (Murdock 1949). Other examples of cultural universals are family, gender roles, an incest taboo, belief in the supernatural, marriage, art, dance, and music. Definition: cultural universals Patterns or traits that are found in all cultures. Just because a trait is a cultural universal does not mean it is expressed in the same manner in all cultures. For example, every human society recognizes a family structure that regulates sexual reproduction and the care of children. Even so, how that family unit is defined and how it functions varies. In many Asian cultures, for example, family members from all generations commonly live together in one household. In these cultures, young adults continue to live in the extended household family structure until they marry and join their spouse’s household, or they may remain and raise their own nuclear family within the extended family’s homestead. In the United States, by contrast, individuals are expected to leave home and live independently for a period before forming a family unit that consists of parents and their offspring. Other cultural universals include customs like funeral rites, weddings, and celebrations of births. However, each culture may view and enact these rituals and ceremonies quite differently. Image 1. Children from Mwahyeran traditional dance group, Tanzania, 2010, by AnabaNunu under CC BY-SA 4.0. Image 2. Fiestas de Invierno de Perquin, El Salvador, 2005, by Jose Huwaidi under CC BY-SA 4.0. Image 3. Armenian National Dance in Aznavour Square, Armenia, 2018, by Armineaghayan under CC BY-SA 4.0. GENERALITIESCultural generalities are those patterns or traits that are found in several, but not all, societies. One such generality that exists in some cultural groups and not others is the nuclear family. As discussed above, in many societies, the family unit includes more than just parents and children. In those cultures, the nuclear family is embedded in a larger family unit such as extended families, lineages, or clans. Family structures will be covered in a later chapter of this book. Definition: cultural generalities Patterns or traits that are found in several, but not all, societies. While some generalities, such as family units, exist as a result of independent invention due to similar environmental or cultural circumstances, others result from the interaction between cultural groups. One example of this is the English language. English is spoken in many countries around the world for several reasons. First, North America and Australians both speak English because of a common cultural ancestor, or cultural inheritance (Kottak 2012). Both continents were the destination of many English settlers. Another reason for generalities is colonialism, "the political, social, economic, and cultural domination of a territory and its people by a foreign power for an extended time" (Kottak 2012, p. 215). Many of the countries that speak the English language today were once colonies of England. Finally, generalities can be the result of diffusion (discussed later in this chapter), which occurs when cultural groups have frequent contact. Definition: colonialism The political, social, economic, and cultural domination of a territory and its people by a foreign power for an extended time. PARTICULARITIESAlthough, because of diffusion, they are increasingly rare to find, a cultural particularity is a distinct trait or feature that is confined to a single place, culture, or society (Kottak 2012, p. 27). Many particularities today exist in foods such as South Carolinas mustard pork barbeque or Newfoundland's cod tongues. However, a cultural group may adopt a new trait from another cultural group, the trait can be modified to fit their specific needs or preferences creating its own version of that cultural trait. For example, a country may have a McDonald's Restaurant, but you may not find the traditional American Big Mac on the menu. Definition: cultural particularity A distinct trait or feature that is confined to a single place, culture, or society. BIBLIOGRAPHYKottak, Conrad P. Mirror for Humanity: A Concise Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. New York, N.Y: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Murdock, George P. Social Structure. New York: Macmillan, 1949. Derived From "What is Culture?" by OpenStax under CC-BY 4.0. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-2e/pages/1-introduction-to-sociology. 2.5: Patterns of Culture is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts. What characteristics are common to all cultures?All cultures have characteristics such as initiations, traditions, history, values and principles, purpose, symbols, and boundaries.
What are common elements in culture that all societies have?The major elements of culture are symbols, language, norms, values, and artifacts. Language makes effective social interaction possible and influences how people conceive of concepts and objects.
What are the cultural universals common in all societies?Some examples of other cultural universals include: gift-giving, marriage, bodily adornment, incest taboo, and rules of hygiene. That said, how a cultural universal is expressed varies widely according to the given society.
What are the patterns of cultural behavior?Cultural patterns are the similar behaviors within similar situations we witness due to shared beliefs, values, norms and social practices that are steady over time.
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