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norm (social norm)

Definition of Norm

(noun) The rules or expectations that determine and regulate appropriate behavior within a culture, group, or society.

Examples of Norm

  • Not to stealing from others.
  • Wearing clothes in public places.

Types of Norm

Norm Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: norm

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /nORm/
  • British English – /nAWm/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /nɔ(ə)rm/
  • British English – /nɔːm/

Usage Notes

  • Plural: norms
  • The terms “norm” and “social norm” are used interchangeably in a sociological context.
  • Norms can be formal and informal, visible and invisible, or explicit and implicit.
  • Norms are learned through socialization and enforced through negative or positive sanctions.

Related Quotations

  • “All groups have norms, values, beliefs, ways of life, and codes of conduct that identify the group and define its boundaries” (McNamee and Miller 2013:58).
  • “If religion protects man against the desire to kill himself, it is not because it preaches respect for his person based on arguments sui generis, but because it is a society. What constitutes this society is the existence of a certain number of beliefs and practices common to all the faithful which are traditional and therefore obligatory. The more numerous and strong these collective states are, the more strongly integrated is the religious community, and the greater its preservative value” (Durkheim [1897] 2004:74).
  • “No society lacks norms governing conduct. But societies do differ in the degree to which folkways, mores and institutional controls are effectively integrated with the goals which stand high in the hierarchy of cultural values. The culture may be such as to lead individuals to center their emotional convictions upon the complex of culturally acclaimed ends, with far less emotional support for prescribed methods of reaching out for these ends. With such differential emphases upon goals and institutional procedures, the latter may be so vitiated by the stress on goals as to have the behavior of many individuals limited only by considerations of technical expediency. In this context, the sole significant question becomes: Which of the available procedures is most efficient in netting the culturally approved value? The technically most effective procedure, whether culturally legitimate or not, becomes typically preferred to institutionally prescribed conduct. As this process of attenuation continues, the society becomes unstable and there develops what Durkheim called ‘anomie‘ (normlessness)” (Merton [1949] 1968:189).

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Additional Information

Related Terms


References

Durkheim, Émile. [1897] 2004. “Suicide.” Pp. 65–83 in Readings from Emile Durkheim. Rev. ed., edited and translated by K. Thompson. New York: Routledge.

McNamee, Stephen J., and Robert K. Miller, Jr. 2013. The Meritocracy Myth. 3rd ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Merton, Robert King. [1949] 1968. Social Theory and Social Structure. New York: Free Press.

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Cite the Definition of Norm

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “norm.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 19, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/norm/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

norm. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/norm/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “norm.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/norm/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“norm.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/norm/>.