Cross cultural understanding: a handbook to understand others’ cultures

2.
 
Cultural Universal 
Cultural universals are elements common to all 
human cultures, regardless of historical moment, 
geography, or cultural origin. There is a tension in cultural 
anthropology and cultural sociology between the claim 
that culture is a universal (the fact that all human societies 
have culture), and that it is also particular (culture takes a 
tremendous variety of forms around the world).
Koentjoroningrat (1990) categorizes cultural universal 
into seven, namely: 
1.
Language 
2.
Knowledge system 

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6 | Cross Cultural Understanding 
3.
Social organizations 
4.
Life tool system 
5.
Livelihood system 
6.
Religion system 
7.
Art 
The idea of cultural universals itself runs contrary to 
cultural relativism. Cultural relativism is the idea that all 
norms, beliefs, and values are dependent on their cultural 
context, and should not be used in the study or 
description of another culture. The way to deal with our 
own assumptions is not to pretend that they don't exist 
but rather to acknowledge them, and then use the 
awareness that we are not neutral to inform our 
conclusions.
Cultural relativism is, in part, a response to Western 
ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is the tendency to look at 
the world primarily from the perspective of one's own 
culture. judging another culture solely by the values and 
standards of one's own culture. Ethnocentrism may take 
obvious forms, in which one consciously believes that one 
people's arts are the most beautiful, values the most 
virtuous, and beliefs the most truthful. 

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Cross Cultural Understanding | 7