Table of Contents
Definition of Age Norm
(noun) Culturally informed, formal and informal rules (norms), that determine appropriate ways of ‘being’ and ‘doing’ at a particular age.
Examples of Age Norm
- In the United States, an 18-year old wearing a diaper and using a pacifier in public would break an informal age norm.
- A 10-year old operating a bulldozer on a construction site would break a formal age norm.
Age Norm Pronunciation
Syllabification: age norm
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /AYj nORm/
- British English – /AYj nAWm/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /eɪʤ nɔrm/
- British English – /eɪʤ nɔːm/
Usage Notes
- Plural: age norms
- Age norms are either formal or informal.
- Age norms are similar for an age cohort in a particular population.
- A crime that is based primarily on the age of the offender is a status offense, for example, underage drinking.
- Age norms are learned through socialization and regulated by sanctions that are either positive and negative, or formal and informal.
- A type of norm.
Additional Information
Related Terms
Works Consulted
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 5th ed. 2011. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Collins English Dictionary: Complete and Unabridged. 6th ed. 2003. Glasgow, Scotland: Collins.
Hughes, Michael, and Carolyn J. Kroehler. 2011. Sociology: The Core. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Kimmel, Michael S., and Amy Aronson. 2012. Sociology Now. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Macmillan. (N.d.) Macmillan Dictionary. (https://www.macmillandictionary.com/).
Scott, John, and Gordon Marshall. 2005. A Dictionary of Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Cite the Definition of Age Norm
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “age norm.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved January 16, 2025 (https://sociologydictionary.org/age-norm/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
age norm. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/age-norm/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “age norm.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed January 16, 2025. https://sociologydictionary.org/age-norm/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“age norm.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 16 Jan. 2025. <https://sociologydictionary.org/age-norm/>.