Table of Contents
Definition of Cultural Universals
(noun) Customs, patterns, and traits that occur in virtually every culture.
Examples of Cultural Universals
Cultural Universals Pronunciation
Syllabification: cul·tur·al u·ni·ver·sals
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /kUHl-chuhr-ruhl yoo-nuh-vUHR-suhlz/
- British English – /kUHl-chuh-ruhl yoo-ni-vUHR-suhlz/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /kʌlʧərəl ˌjunəˈvɜrsəlz/
- British English – /ˈkʌlʧərəl ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːsəlz/
Usage Note
- Singular form: cultural universal
Additional Information
- Sociolinguistics Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “cultural” and “universal” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
Works Consulted
Ferrante, Joan. 2011. Seeing Sociology: An Introduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Hughes, Michael, and Carolyn J. Kroehler. 2011. Sociology: The Core. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Jary, David, and Julia Jary. 2000. Collins Dictionary of Sociology. 3rd ed. Glasgow, Scotland: HarperCollins.
Kendall, Diana. 2011. Sociology in Our Times. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Kimmel, Michael S., and Amy Aronson. 2012. Sociology Now. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Macionis, John. 2012. Sociology. 14th ed. Boston: Pearson.
Macionis, John, and Kenneth Plummer. 2012. Sociology: A Global Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.
Ravelli, Bruce, and Michelle Webber. 2016. Exploring Sociology: A Canadian Perspective. 3rd ed. Toronto: Pearson.
Schaefer, Richard. 2013. Sociology: A Brief Introduction. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Scott, John, and Gordon Marshall. 2005. A Dictionary of Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Shepard, Jon M. 2010. Sociology. 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Shepard, Jon M., and Robert W. Greene. 2003. Sociology and You. New York: Glencoe.
Tischler, Henry L. 2011. Introduction to Sociology. 10th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Cite the Definition of Cultural Universals
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “cultural universals.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 25, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/cultural-universals/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
cultural universals. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/cultural-universals/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “cultural universals.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 25, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/cultural-universals/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“cultural universals.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/cultural-universals/>.