Cultural universals are characteristics or traits shared by all societies worldwide. They include the institutions’ values, practices, and cultural patterns determined to exist across all people throughout space and time. Examples include performing activities such as singing, storytelling, and cooking (Woods, 2018). Some cultural universals, such as funeral rituals, take different forms, such as burying the remains, burning the corpse, and depositing the corpse a distance away from people so that animals can scavenge.
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is a powerful assertion that stands true because thinking and comprehending some things can be problematic if there is no term to define a theory or an object. Since language plays a vital role in establishing and preserving race and ethnicity and has a striking relation with other social factors like gender and age, it can impact the way people understand race, ethnicity, and culture by establishing a sense of “us” and “them.”
Values are often regarded as the things that one considers fundamental in life. The primary distinction between norms and values is that while values serve as guiding principles for morality, norms are universally acknowledged behavior guidelines. Since the nation’s founding, Americans have adhered to a set of core values: freedom, equality, and justice. All Americans embrace these values since they are essential for survival and prosperity. The core concepts that underpin American culture are imparted in elementary schools are mirrored in its founding documents and are shared by all Americans.
Culture shock could be quite serious for someone from the 19th century who suddenly finds himself in the 21st century in America. The culture shock would result from novel encounters such as unfamiliar customs, languages, and cuisines. People from diverse cultures intermarrying and giving blacks and whites the same rights are two features of American culture that can startle this traveler. Nevertheless, the individual might not be surprised by elements of American culture like prejudice and superiority.
Reference
Woods, A. (2018). American culture: A sociological perspective. Linguistics and Culture Review, 2(1), 1–12. Web.