This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (May 2009) A cultural universal (as discussed by George Murdock, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Donald Brown and others) is an element, pattern, trait, or institution that is common to all human cultures worldwide. Evolutionary psychologists hold that behaviors or traits that occur universally in all cultures are good candidates for evolutionary adaptations.1 Some anthropological and sociological theorists that take a cultural relativist perspective may deny the existence of cultural universals: the extent to which these universals are "cultural" in the narrow sense, or in fact biologically inherited behavior is an issue in the "nature versus nurture" controversy. Contents 1 General 2 List of cultural universals 2.1 Language and cognition 2.2 Society 2.3 Myth, ritual and aesthetics 2.4 Technology 3 References 4 Bibliography General

The emergence of these universals dates to the Upper Paleolithic, with the first evidence of full behavioral modernity. List of cultural universals Among the cultural universals listed by Brown (1991) are: Language and cognition Main articles: Linguistic universal, Language, and Cognition Language employed to manipulate others Language employed to misinform or mislead Language is translatable Abstraction in speech and thought Antonyms, synonyms Logical notions of "and," "not," "opposite," "equivalent," "part/whole," "general/particular" Binary cognitive distinctions Color terms: black, white Classification of: age, behavioral propensities, body parts, colors, fauna, flora, inner states, kin, sex, space, tools, weather conditions Continua (ordering as cognitive pattern) Discrepancies between speech, thought, and action Figurative speech, metaphors Symbolism, symbolic speech Synesthetic metaphors Tabooed utterances Special speech for special occasions Prestige from proficient use of language (e.g. poetry) Planning Units of time Society Main article: Society Personal names Family or household Kin groups Peer groups not based on family Actions under self-control distinguished from those not under control Affection expressed and felt Age grades Age statuses Age terms Law: rights and obligations, rules of membership Moral sentiments Distinguishing right and wrong, good and bad Prestige inequalities Promise/oath Property Statuses and roles Leaders De facto oligarchy Coalitions Collective identities Conflict Cooperative labor Gender roles Males dominate public/political realm; patriarchycitation needed Males more aggressive, more prone to lethal violence, more prone to theft Males engage in more coalitionist violence through rape Marriage Husband older than wife on average Copulation normally conducted in privacy Incest prevention or avoidance, incest between mother and son unthinkable or tabooed Rape, but rape proscribed Collective decision making Etiquette Inheritance rules Generosity admired, gift giving Redress of wrongs, sanctions Sexual jealousy Shame Territoriality Triangular awareness (assessing relationships among the self and two other people) Some forms of proscribed violence Visiting Trade Myth, ritual and aesthetics Main articles: Myth, Ritual, and Aesthetics Magical thinking Use of magic to increase life, win love, Beliefs about death Beliefs about disease Beliefs about fortune and misfortune Divination Attempts to control weather Dream interpretation Beliefs and narratives Proverbs, sayings Poetry/rhetorics Healing practices, medicine Childbirth customs Rites of passage Music, rhythm, dance Play Toys, playthings Death rituals, mourning Feasting Sexual double entendres Body adornment Hairstyles Dragon mythscitation needed Creation, end times myths Technology Main article: Technology Shelter Control of fire Tools, tool making Weapons, spear Containers Cooking Lever Tying material (i.e., something like string), twining (i.e. weaving or similar) References ^ Schacter, Daniel L, Daniel Wegner and Daniel Gilbert. 2007. Psychology. Worth Publishers. pp. 26 - 27 Bibliography This section lacks ISBNs for the books listed in it. Please make it easier to conduct research by listing ISBNs. If the {{Cite book}} or {{citation}} templates are in use, you may add ISBNs automatically, or discuss this issue on the talk page. Erika Bourginon (1973) Diversity and Homogeneity in World Societies. New Haven, Connecticut: HRAF Press. Donald Brown (1991) Human Universals. Philadelphia, Temple University Press (online summary). Joseph H. Greenberg, et al. (1978) Universals of Human Language, 4 vols. Stanford University Press. Charles D. Laughlin and Eugene G. d'Aquili (1974) Biogenetic Structuralism. New York: Columbia University Press. Claude Lévi-Strauss (1966) The Savage Mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press [first published in French in 1962]. George P. Murdock (1945), "The Common Denominator of Culture," in The Science of Man in the World Crisis, Ralph Linton (ed.). New York: Columbia University Press. Charles E. Osgood, William S May, and Murray S Miron (1975) Cross-Cultural Universals of Affective Meaning Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press. Steven Pinker (2002), The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature, New York: Penguin Putnam. Rik Pinxten (1976) "Epistemic Universals: A Contribution to Cognitive Anthropology," in Universalism Versus Relativism in Language and Thought, R. Pinxten (ed.). The Hague: Mouton.