Cultural Norms Essay

A social norm is a behavior accepted and expected by society. We learn social norms from feedback, called sanctions, we get from our peers and elders. A sanction can be positive or negative; if it is positive it is a sort of reward that encourages the behavior and if it is negative it is a sort of punishment meant to discourage the behavior. For example, when children fart in public they break the social norm and are scolded or negatively sanctioned by their parents with yelling or are bullied by their peers. However, if the child were to hold a door for someone else they receive a positive sanction of that person’s thanks.

Violating a norm, in society today, can make some people look at you incredibly differently from what is normal. Depending on the norm that is disrupted, some people make react differently than perhaps someone with different views. I decided to experiment with breaking the norm of conversational distance. “Social Distance” has separate zones that are a general rule of a conversation based on how well a person knows the people they are talking to. While defying the norm of social distance, I received two different reactions due to the difference in people I attempted it with. Disturbing a social norm can either make people uncomfortable or act okay with it, depending on different variables.

In our society we have a number of society norms that we abide by. For example, there is an unwritten rule of how one should behave in an elevator. For example, it is proper to face front, stand away from strangers, and not to look at others. When a social norm is broken people may respond with alarm, humor, fear, irritation, or an array of other emotions. When you think of a norm, you are probably thinking about being normal. But in psychology terms, norm means, a standard or representative value for a group. The norm that is more common to people is a social norm. Meaning expectations about what behavior, thoughts, or feelings are appropriate within a given group within a given context.

In our society we have a number of norms that we abide by. For example, there is an unwritten rule of how one should behave in an elevator. It is “proper” to face front, stand away from strangers, and not to look at others. When a social norm is broken people may respond with alarm, humour, fear, irritation, or an array of other emotions. When you think of a norm, you are probably thinking about simply being normal. But in psychology terms, norm means a standard or representative value for a group. A social norm is some sort of an expectation that our society has that is deemed normal by that society; they tell us which behaviors, thoughts, or feelings are appropriate within a given

Over the past 100 years, the United States has changed the way it views other cultures including more respect, equality, and freedom for all people. As much as America has grown, has America really changed that drastically? Across the nation and world, cultural differences still exist, misunderstandings continue, and fighting persists. Recent attacks within the United States that are similar to the conflicts between the Japanese and Americans in the early 1900’s include the 9/11 attack, the bombing at the Boston Marathon, and the mass shooting in Orlando.

The USA is a very diverse nation with many different groups of people, and that being said it is a wonder our nation is able to coexist despite many cultures being integrated within our population. Several things that came to mind while researching this topic were; ,“What kind of social norms do other cultures have?”, “ How would I have turned out if I would have been born in that country with a different culture?”, and “ What do people from a different context think about the way I communicate?”. We oftentimes disregard a very crucial entity that is essential to any civilization, and that is the way the populous communicates with each other. Foreigners oftentimes struggle to adapt living in a new country because they have to overcome many endeavors, and have to deal with the initial culture shock. Aside from learning a new language they have to learn certain social cues that were not used in their native countries, and most of the time they will have to learn the social cues on their own. Even if you learn the language prior to your arrival you will still find it difficult to have a conversation with a local. There are two distinct ways to communicate, and it is oftentimes influenced by the culture an individual is born in. There are cultures that are considered to be high context, and their counterparts would be those who grew up in cultures considered to be low context. An individual’s upbringing greatly influences how well they would be able to adapt to communicating

All throughout history African Americans have been discriminated against and always been at a disadvantage, whether it be in the courtroom, with police officers, or just trying to be a normal American citizen. Recently many minority players are taking a stand against the prejudice injustices that they face on an everyday basis. In response to the injustices they face, using their national fame, the athletes are raising awareness by taking a knee during the National Anthem, in an attempt to peacefully protest. This bold form of protest has only occurred a handful amount of times, because of not only the national criticism that is to follow but the repercussions as well. Many American citizens, veterans and government officials are taking

For centuries, racism has become the universal epitome of culture, despite the efforts of various civilizations, such as the Western and European to combat these indifferences among people. A race is specific social group that can be differentiated through various ways, from facial features and hair textures, to social norms and habits that constitutes to that group. These differences contribute to our uniqueness and humanity. Because people can be grouped by any number of differences, Man, lead by his ignorance, perpetuated the issue once social-hierarchies began to develop, splitting society to its various groups. As a result, social disparity from one’s upbringing became the common tendency to look down, or look up at people of other

The significance of this triad is that these are the three major parts of the “conformity” culture of the 1950s. The first part was the idea of women's “place.” This was the idea that a proper woman’s place in society was in the home. The ideal woman was married at a young age, primarily tended to her husband and children, and hosted parties and events for the other women.This was a reaction to women working in World War II and a fear that this departure of domesticity would continue. The second part of the “conformity” culture was a very strong sense of community. People searched for this because of the constant mobility required on workers by many corporations. Whereas before people were likely to be born, get married, and die, all in the

In today's day and age contemporary society's are built upon the thought of citizen conformity to a prescribed set of values and norms to. This idea of complies to social standards makes one think as to how these norms of fact society as a whole and an individual. The main driving component which draws people too conformity are the desire to be excepted in certain status groups. People fear that if they do not conformity is norms that they will be breaking the social contract therefore been shunned by society at not being able to achieve their personal goals. Further analysis of these forces for conformity in contemporary society it will be shown that these forces produced negative ethical conduct and

Problems that arise when a teacher establishes their own culture as the norms in the classroom to followed are? Cultural indifferences, lack of respect to each other and tensions between teacher and students base on culture needs. The cultural norm that should be seen in a classroom with students who are culturally diverse is making students feel comfortable with each other and accepted. Being able to invest you time to learn about the different culture that are in the classroom and teaching about them in your classroom. An example would be explained about the different holidays that are celebrate during Christmas time like: Kwanza, Hanukkah and Christmas. Being able to understand the culture aspects of the cultures in your classroom. An

Adolescence is a time where an individual’s sense of identity starts to emerge and a majority of their social norms are perceived. In this day and age, adolescents live in a world heavily submerged around media, which plays an important and habitual part of an adolescents' life. In a national survey conducted in 2009, adolescents on average spend more than 7.5 hours using some sort of media a day (Rideout, Foehr, Roberts, 2010). With this unprecedented access to the world, individuals are learning and connecting with many different people and ideas through the media (Brown & Bobkowsi, 2011). With different forms of media playing an influential part in an adolescents’ life, their perceived social norms may be seriously influenced.

The world has millions of people of diverse cultural backgrounds. They have their own beliefs, food habits, art forms, and dressing styles. Since ancient times, these people are coming across each other and are exchanging their ideas. However, sometimes people turn hostile because of their cultural prejudices. This tendency to judge the other people based on the standards of his or her own culture is cultural bias. It is a major hindrance in performing a cross-cultural research. A person who is culturally biased ignores the differences that exist between his own culture and other cultures. Cultural bias can stereotype a culture. When a person says his cultures superior to others, he is undoubtedly culturally biased. Such a person never appreciates

Marcus Garvey once said, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” Culture, which consists of “ language, norms, values, and beliefs” (Long-Crowell), is the foundation to an individual's background. Through the culture that one is born into, he can adapt and incorporate different cultures to ultimately cultivate his own. This process causes cultures to be diverse; no one truly shares an identical culture. The different parts of cultures that one includes into his own defines who he is as a person. This includes clothing, food, religion, and hobbies. Therefore, people cannot be defined by ethnicity or race, but rather how they behave and think. For example, although someone may

In February 2007, the fourth annual conference of “Zero Tolerance Against Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting” was held. Their meeting brought together scholars and lay people alike, all whose main concern was the issue of Female Genital Cutting (FGC). However, this conference was unlike others in that the focus of discussion wasn’t how to eliminate this practice, but rather, whether it should be eliminated at all (Goldberg 121). When Fuambai Ahmadu, a Ph.D. fellow and first generation American from Sierra Leone, took the floor, everyone listened. Ahmadu was raised in America and as an adult, traveled back to Sierra Leone to take part in the ritual of Female Genital Cutting. She chose to participate in this “initiation” and what she feels is