All societies play by the rules (7 to be precise)

ALL societies are held together by seven universal moral rules, including deferring to superiors and respecting the property of others, researchers at the University of Oxford have concluded.

Although many Western cultures are moving towards more liberal, less hierarchical organisations, the research suggests that traditional power structures and basic values of charity and fraternity are the cornerstones of successful societies.

The huge study of 60 around the world found that cultures all communities operated under seven basic moral codes. Those universal rules are: help your family, help your group, return favours, be brave, defer to superiors, divide resources fairly, and respect the property of others.

Ideas encompassed within the code include caring for frail relatives, passing on property to offspring, going to war if needed and respecting elders.

The traits held for every kind of community, from traditional huntergatherers to advanced Western civilisations, and work to uphold civilised society and foster social cooperation.

“Everyone, everywhere shares a common moral code,” said Dr Oliver Scott Curry, the lead author and senior researcher at the Institute for Cogni- tive and Evolutionary Anthropology, at Oxford. “These ... rules appear to be universal across cultures because people face the same social problems.”

The study, published in Current Anthropolog y, is the largest, most comprehensive and widespread survey of morals conducted and aimed to find out if different societies have different versions of morality. The team analysed ethnographic accounts from more than 600 sources of 60 societies.

They found that the seven rules were considered morally good in all societies and, despite appearing like Western Christian principles, were in fact observed across all continents, religions and politics. However, some communities valued certain rules more highly than others.

Among the Amhara of Ethiopia “flouting kinship obligation indicates an evil character” while in Korea, there exists an “egalitarian community ethic of mutual assistance and cooperation”.

For the Maasai of Kenya “the uncompromising ideal of supreme warriorhood involves ascetic commitment to self-sacrifice and a supreme display of courageous loyalty”.

Meanwhile, the Bemba in Zambia exhibit “a deep sense of respect for elders’ authority” while among the Tarahumara of Mexico, “respect for the property of others is key”.