Significance of social norms in society

Hussein Ali^*
*Correspondence: Hussein Ali, Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States, Email:

Received: 25-May-2022, Manuscript No. GJSA-22-64783; Editor assigned: 31-May-2022, Pre QC No. GJSA-22-64783 (PQ); Reviewed: 14-Jun-2022, QC No. GJSA-22-64783; Revised: 20-Jun-2022, Manuscript No. GJSA-22-64783 (R); Published: 27-Jun-2022

Description

Norms are a basic concept in social science. They are often defined as rules or expectations that are enforced on society. Norms may be instruction (encouraging good behaviour; for example, “honest”) or impulsive (discouraging immorality; for example, “do not cheat”).

Importance of norms

Normless society is impossible: Norms are very important in society. It is impossible to imagine a strange society, because without Norms morality would be unpredictable. The ethical standards contained in the code give the impression that social cohesion works well when people follow group norms. The normative order makes the true order of human society possible.

If there were no organized order, there would be no human society. Man needs a common order in order to live in society because the human body is not perfect or integrated to provide automatic responses that work well enough in society.

Man cannot exist alone. His dependence on society does not fix from the innate responses that motivate the community but rather from the responses learned to meaningful motivation. His dependence on society is therefore ultimately dependent on the normative order.

Norms give cohesion to society: We can never think of a group of people without norms. The human body to sustain itself must live in a well-regulated social system. The normative system provides the community with unity otherwise social health is impossible. Those groups can change the standard system and maintain normal control over their members who fail to survive due to lack of internal cooperation.

Norms influence individual’s attitudes: Norms influence a person’s attitude and motives. They directly affect human self-esteem. They are specific demands on his team. They are very stable. They have the power to silence any previously accepted abstract sentiment which they may oppose. They will take precedence over invisible emotions. Being a member of a group means building attitudes toward the group’s norms. A person becomes a good member by the extent to which he maintains norms.

Norms determine and guide his righteous judgment of others and his right judgment of himself. They lead to experiences of conscience, feelings of guidance, joy, and depression. Becoming a member of guilt consists of internalizing the norms of the group. By being incorporated they became part of him automatically reflected in his behaviour.

Conformity of Norms: The rules are not set by all parties regarding all types of behaviour and all possible situations. They are built on news that results from a particular group. What matters is the effect on the group depending on the group’s main goals and objectives, the group’s relationship with other groups, and the context in which it operates.

Similarly, the scope of normally controlled behaviour varies greatly from group to group. For example, the habits of some groups may focus on moral issues, while the practices of some groups may cover a broader area of life including dress, entertainment, education, and so on. In addition, a social normal operative in one social system may not work in another. Therefore, Mohammedan communities tolerate polygamy, but Christians do not. Likewise the practices do not apply equally to all members of society or in all circumstances.

People adjusted for the position which they occupy in the community and the jobs they perform. Thus what is right for a woman is not always right for a man, or what is right for a doctor may not be right for a teacher. Compliance with customs is therefore always appropriate in view of the circumstances described in the community in which they operate.

The norm by definition means a sense of obligation. It sets the standard for behaviour that a person should follow. Many of the problems of personality as well as society are mostly the problems of non-conformity to norms. Conformity to norms is normal.