social norm social norm social norms are shared standards of acceptable behavior by groups. social norms can both be informal understandings that govern the behavior of members of a society, as well as be codified into rules and laws. social normative influences or social norms, are deemed to be powerful drivers of human behavioural changes and well organized and incorporated by major theories which explain human behaviour. institutions are composed of multiple norms. norms are shared social beliefs about behavior; thus, they are distinct from "ideas", "attitudes", and "values", which can be held privately, and which do not necessarily concern behavior. norms are contingent on context, social group, and historical circumstances. part of a series onsociology history outline index key themes society globalization human behavior human environmental impact identity industrial revolutions 3 & 4 social complexity social construct social environment social equality social equity social power social stratification social structure perspectives conflict theory critical theory structural functionalism positivism social constructionism symbolic interactionism branches aging architecture art astrosociology body criminology consciousness culture death demography deviance disaster economic education emotion (jealousy) environmental family feminist fiscal food gender generations health historical immigration industrial internet jewry knowledge language law leisure literature marxist mathematic medical military music peace, war, and social conflict philosophy political public punishment race and ethnicity religion rural science (history of science) social movements social psychology sociocybernetics sociology space sport technology terrorism urban utopian victimology visual methods quantitative qualitative comparative computational ethnographic conversation analysis historical interview mathematical network analysis social experiment survey peopleeast asia 1900s fei xiaotong south asia 1800s g.s ghurye 1900s irawati karve m. n. srinivas middle east 1400s ibn khaldun europe 1700s auguste comte emmanuel joseph sieyès 1800s émile durkheim harriet martineau karl marx georg simmel herbert spencer ferdinand tönnies max weber 1900s michel foucault jürgen habermas north america 1800s jane addams ernest burgess w.e.b. du bois george herbert mead thorstein veblen 1900s james coleman patricia hill collins erving goffman paul lazarsfeld charles wright mills robert k. merton theda skocpol dorothy e. smith lists bibliography terminology journals organizations people timeline by country society portal wikiproject sociology scholars distinguish between regulative norms (which constrain behavior), constitutive norms (which shape interests), and prescriptive norms (which prescribe what actors ought to do). the effects of norms can be determined by a logic of appropriateness and [[50 cent|logic of consequences]]; the former entails that actors follow norms because it is socially appropriate, and the latter entails that actors follow norms because of cost-benefit calculations. three stages have been identified in the life cycle of a norm: (1) norm emergence – norm entrepreneurs seek to persuade others of the desirability and appropriateness of certain behaviors; (2) norm cascade – when a norm obtains broad acceptance; and (3) norm internalization – when a norm acquires a "taken-for-granted" quality. norms are robust to various degrees: some norms are often violated whereas other norms are so deeply internalized that norm violations are infrequent. evidence for the existence of norms can be detected in the patterns of behavior within groups, as well as the articulation of norms in group discourse. definition shaking hands after a sports match is an example of a social norm. there are varied definitions of social norms, but there is agreement among scholars that norms are: social and shared among members of a group, related to behaviors and shape decision-making, proscriptive or prescriptive socially acceptable way of living by a group of people in a society. in 1965, jack p. gibbs identified three basic normative dimensions that all concepts of norms could be subsumed under: "a collective evaluation of behavior in terms of what it ought to be" "a collective expectation as to what behavior will be" "particular reactions to behavior" (including attempts sanction or induce certain conduct) according to ronald jepperson, peter katzenstein and alexander wendt, "norms are collective expectations about proper behavior for a given identity." wayne sandholtz argues against this definition, as he writes that shared expectations are an effect of norms, not an intrinsic quality of norms. sandholtz, martha finnemore and kathryn sikkink define norms instead as "standards of appropriate behavior for actors with a given identity." in this definition, norms have an "oughtness" quality to them. michael hechter and karl-dieter opp define norms as "cultural phenomena that prescribe and proscribe behavior in specific circumstances." sociologists christine horne and stefanie mollborn define norms as "group-level evaluations of behavior." this entails that norms are widespread expectations of social approval or disapproval of behavior. scholars debate whether social norms are individual constructs or collective constructs. economist and game theorist peyton young defines norms as "patterns of behavior that are self-enforcing within a group." he emphasizes that norms are driven by shared expectations: "everyone conforms, everyone is expected to conform, and everyone wants to conform when they expect everyone else to conform." he characterizes norms as devices that "coordinate people's expectations in interactions that possess multiple equilibria." concepts such as "conventions", "customs", "morals", "mores", "rules", and "laws" have been characterized as equivalent to norms. institutions can be considered collections or clusters of multiple norms. rules and norms are not necessarily distinct phenomena: both are standards of conduct that can have varying levels of specificity and formality. laws are a highly formal version of norms. laws, rules and norms may be contradictory; for example, a law may prohibit something but norms still allow it. norms are not the equivalent of an aggregation of individual attitudes. ideas, attitudes and values are not necessarily norms, as these concepts do not necessarily concern behavior and may be held privately. "prevalent behaviors" and behavioral regularities are not necessarily norms. instinctual or biological reactions, personal tastes, and personal habits are not necessarily norms. emergence and transmission groups may adopt norms in a variety of ways. some stable and self-reinforcing norms may emerge spontaneously without conscious human design. peyton young goes as far as to say that "norms typically evolve without top-down direction... through interactions of individuals rather than by design." norms may develop informally, emerging gradually as a result of repeated use of discretionary stimuli to control behavior. not necessarily laws set in writing, informal norms represent generally accepted and widely sanctioned routines that people follow in everyday life. these informal norms, if broken, may not invite formal legal punishments or sanctions, but instead encourage reprimands, warnings, or othering; incest, for example, is generally thought of as wrong in society, but many jurisdictions do not legally prohibit it. norms may also be created and advanced through conscious human design by norm entrepreneurs. norms can arise formally, where groups explicitly outline and implement behavioral expectations. legal norms typically arise from design. a large number of these norms we follow 'naturally' such as driving on the right side of the road in the us and on the left side in the uk, or not speeding in order to avoid a ticket. martha finnemore and kathryn sikkink identify three stages in the life cycle of a norm: norm emergence: norm entrepreneurs seek to persuade others to adopt their ideas about what is desirable and appropriate norm cascade: when a norm has broad acceptance and reaches a tipping point, with norm leaders pressuring others to adopt and adhere to the norm norm internalization: when the norm has acquired a "taken-for-granted" quality where compliance with the norm is nearly automatic they argue that several factors may raise the influence of certain norms: legitimation: actors that feel insecure about their status and reputation may be more likely to embrace norms prominence: norms that are held by actors seen as desirable and successful are more likely to diffuse to others intrinsic qualities of the norm: norms that are specific, long-lasting, and universal are more likely to become prominent path dependency: norms that are related to preexisting norms are more likely to be widely accepted world time-context: systemic shocks (such as wars, revolutions and economic crises) may motivate a search for new norms christina horne and stefanie mollborn have identified two broad categories of arguments for the emergence of norms: consequentialism: norms are created when an individual's behavior has consequences and externalities for other members of the group. relationalism: norms are created because people want to attract positive social reactions. in other words, norms do not necessarily contribute to the collective good. per consequentialism, norms contribute to the collective good. however, per relationalism, norms do not necessarily contribute to the collective good; norms may even be harmful to the collective. some scholars have characterized norms as inherently unstable, thus creating possibilities for norm change. according to wayne sandholtz, actors are more likely to persuade others to modify existing norms if they possess power, can reference existing foundational meta-norms, and can reference precedents. social proximity between actors has been characterized as a key component in sustaining social norms. transfer of norms between groups individuals may also import norms from a previous organization to their new group, which can get adopted over time. without a clear indication of how to act, people typically rely on their history to determine the best course forward; what was successful before may serve them well again. in a group, individuals may all import different histories or scripts about appropriate behaviors; common experience over time will lead the group to define as a whole its take on the right action, usually with the integration of several members' schemas. under the importation paradigm, norm formation occurs subtly and swiftly whereas with formal or informal development of norms may take longer. groups internalize norms by accepting them as reasonable and proper standards for behavior within the group. once firmly established, a norm becomes a part of the group's operational structure and hence more difficult to change. while possible for newcomers to a group to change its norms, it is much more likely that the new individual will adopt the group's norms, values, and perspectives, rather than the other way around. deviance from social norms "normal = bad word", a graffiti in ljubljana, slovenia deviance is defined as "nonconformity to a set of norms that are accepted by a significant number of people in a community or society." teyana taylor violated a social norm when she brought chick-fil-a to the met gala. more simply put, if group members do not follow a norm, they become labeled as a deviant. in the sociological literature, this can often lead to them being considered outcasts of society. yet, deviant behavior amongst children is somewhat expected. except the idea of this deviance manifesting as a criminal action, the social tolerance given in the example of the child is quickly withdrawn against the criminal. crime is considered one of the most extreme forms of deviancy according to scholar clifford r. shaw. what is considered "normal" is relative to the location of the culture in which the social interaction is taking place. in psychology, an individual who routinely disobeys group norms runs the risk of turning into the "institutionalized deviant." similar to the sociological definition, institutionalized deviants may be judged by other group members for their failure to adhere to norms. at first, group members may increase pressure on a non-conformist, attempting to engage the individual in conversation or explicate why he or she should follow their behavioral expectations. the role in which one decides on whether or not to behave is largely determined on how their actions will affect others. especially with new members who perhaps do not know any better, groups may use discretionary stimuli to bring an individual's behavior back into line. over time, however, if members continue to disobey, the group will give up on them as a lost cause; while the group may not necessarily revoke their membership, they may give them only superficial consideration. if a worker is late to a meeting, for example, violating the office norm of punctuality, a boss or other co-worker may wait for the individual to arrive and pull him aside later to ask what happened. if the behavior continues, eventually the group may begin meetings without him since the individual "is always late." the group generalizes the individual's disobedience and promptly dismisses it, thereby reducing the member's influence and footing in future group disagreements. group tolerance for deviation varies across membership; not all group members receive the same treatment for norm violations. individuals may build up a "reserve" of