What are examples of cultural standards?

Social norms, or mores, are the unwritten rules of behavior that are considered acceptable in a group or society. Norms function to provide order and predictability in society. On the whole, people want approval, they want to belong, and those who do not follow the norms will suffer disapproval or may even be outcast from the group. This is how we keep society functioning, not just with direct rules but also expectations. When people know what is expected of them they tend to comply. While some people seek to be different, most just want to be part of the group.

Norms can change according to the environment, situation, and culture in which they are found, and people's behavior will also change accordingly. Social norms may also change or be modified over time.

There are many social norms widely accepted in western society. They can range from ones expected while in public to ones that are in regards to dining or being on a phone.

To make a good impression on other members of your community there are social norms that are commonly accepted, such as:

Shake hands when you meet someone.
Make direct eye contact with the person you are speaking with.
Unless the movie theater is crowded, do not sit right next to someone.
Do not stand close enough to a stranger to touch arms or hips. Don't invade someone's personal space.
Do not curse in polite conversation and always avoid racist or discriminatory comments.
Do not pick your nose in public and if you must burp or fart say "excuse me."
Be kind to the elderly, like opening a door or giving up your seat.
If there is a line, go to the back of the line instead of pushing or cutting your way to the front.
If you hit or bump into someone by accident, say "I'm sorry."
If someone sneezes near you, say "bless you."
When at someone else's home, ask permission to do things such as turning on the television or using the bathroom.
Flush the toilet after use and always wash your hands when finished.
Say "please" when asking for something and say "thank you" when someone does something for you.
Call to let someone know you will be late or are not going to show up for an appointment.
Dress appropriately for the environment you are in.
Don't interrupt someone while they are talking. Wait for them to finish and then take your turn.

Being on a phone, especially a smartphone, is something we all do now throughout the day. The following are examples of social norms when using a phone.

Say hello when answering and goodbye before you hang up.
Don't take a phone call during dinner, either in public or at home.
Put your phone on silent if you are in a meeting, at church, in a theater or in a public setting where phones are not to be used.
Do not lie or hang up if someone has the wrong number. Inform them of their mistake.
Don't text while on a date or engaged in a conversation with another person.

When dining out at a restaurant there are social norms that are commonly expected from the diner. These include:

Leave a tip for the waiter or waitress. The tip should be at least 15% of the bill.
Chew with your mouth closed and avoid making loud sounds while chewing.
Do not talk with food in your mouth.
Dress according to the restaurant's dress code.
Do not eat soup with a fork.
Do not belch loudly at the table.
Do not eat sloppily or quickly or use your hands unless it is finger food.
Do not eat off another person's plate without asking.
Always thank your server.
Do not be loud or vulgar or disturb other diners.

Whether you realize it or not, there are even norms that apply to riding on an elevator. These norms are expected and mostly common sense. Examples include:

Acknowledge others in the elevator with a simple nod or say hi.
Stand facing the front. Do not turn around and face other passengers.
Never push extra buttons, only the one for your floor.
Never stand right by someone if you are the only two people on board. You do not want to make anyone feel as if you are invading their space.
Do not act obnoxiously on the elevator.
Do not say "I'll wait for the next one" if only one person is on board.

Students learn from an early age that there are certain norms to follow while in class or at school. Some examples include:

Do not use a cellphone during class. Texting and making calls are not appropriate in class time.
Ask the teacher if you can be excused during class to use the restroom. Never just get up and leave.
Do not listen to music with headphones.
Do not sit in other people's assigned chairs.
Come to class prepared with book, paper, pen, etc.
Never read other material during class.
Stand up to bullies and do not allow others to be bullied.
Do not be rude to teachers or your classmates.
Arrive to class on time.

In the professional world, there are social norms to follow to make the workplace function smoothly. These include the following:

Dress neatly and appropriately for the job.
Be on time and follow the schedule that you are given.
Keep a positive attitude and do not engage in gossip.
Be professional and contribute your skills as needed.
Notify supervisors if you are sick and unable to make work.
If you need to leave early, notify your boss and make proper arrangements.
Be respectful of your coworkers.

There are certain norms expected for each gender that have existed for a long time. While these are examples of norms that have changed over time and are still changing, they still persist in many communities. Many of the gender norms are stereotypes and can be considered discriminatory. Some examples of gender-specific norms include the following:

Girls wear pink; boys wear blue.
Men should be strong and not show emotion.
Women should be caring and nurturing.
Men should do repairs at the house and be the one to work and make money while women are expected to take care of the housework and children.
A man should pay for the woman's meal when going out to dinner.
Differences in Social Norms

Keep in mind that these examples are social norms in western society. Social norms vary between countries and from social class to social class and from social group to social group. Each group can share many of the same social norms; and, the group may have a few special norms. As you move from country to country and group to group it is up to you to know, and implement, the appropriate social norms. Continue your societal exploration with a look at what a social construct is.

Passed from one generation to the next, cultural norms are the shared, sanctioned, and integrated systems of beliefs and practices that characterize a cultural group. These norms foster reliable guides for daily living and contribute to the health and well-being of the group. As prescriptions for correct and moral behavior, cultural norms lend meaning and coherence to life, as well as the means to achieve a sense of integrity, safety and belonging. Thus, normative beliefs, together with related values and rituals, confer a sense of order and control upon aspects of life that might otherwise appear chaotic or unpredictable.

Cultural norms are woven into interpretations and expressions of health and illness through dynamic, interactive relationships at all levels of influence—from the gene to the society. Cultural norms often mediate the relationship between ethnicity and health, even effecting gene expression through such practices as marriage rules, lifestyle choices, and environmental exposures. At the individual and group levels, cultural norms have a substantial role in health-related behaviors such as dietary practices, tobacco use, and exercise. Conversely, health can influence cultural norms, as illustrated by Jewish dietary laws governing kashrut (keeping kosher) that were an adaptive response to parasitic diseases centuries ago, yet are still widely practiced today.

Cultural systems, as adaptive tools, change in response to external cues, as evident in the transmutations that occur in norms as diverse groups interact and influence one another. Practices are also adapted to new environments as a response to immigration or technology, such as the genetic engineering of foods that may increase crop resistance to disease or drought and thus alter moral messages of crop failures. Such natural occur-rences may have been interpreted as due to retribution for transgressions against the social religious order of a society. Another instance may be greater size and weight of a group after one or two generations due to an abundance of food sources (e.g., meat, vegetables, and fruit) leading to cardiovascular disease or diabetes.

An individual or group's relationship to the contemporary Western health care system is steeped in cultural norms. Utilization patterns or adherence to treatment protocols may be mediated by a traditional orientation to health and disease, by particular conceptions regarding the authority of clinicians, or by what is considered acceptable communication between patients and practitioners. Cultural differences also affect the responsiveness of the health care system to diverse patient populations. Inequities in access to adequate/optimal health care are a major cause of health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. While the extent is not known, many inequities in health outcomes are due to incompatabilities between the beliefs, values, and cultural norms of the growing minority population segments and the culture of Western biomedicine.

Public health research has yet to fully recognize the importance of such cultural norms for health outcomes or the need to question these relationships on a broad integrated scale. Consequently, the field of public health has little to guide practice in this regard. In fact, recognition of the considerable disparities in health status associated with racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity is relatively recent. One of the first comprehensive accounts of racial and ethnic disparities in health was published in 1986, in the Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Black and Minority Health (U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare 1986).

Documentation of the extent and nature of health-status differences have improved, and research and interventions targeting ethnic minorities have increased since 1985. Still, public health policies and programs often fail to address cultural and ethnic differences—as distinct from racial differences—that are critical to the delivery of health care and to the promotion of health for many at-risk communities. These persistent disparities, coupled with extraordinary demographic growth in some of the most underserved populations, led to the 1999 President's Initiative on Race which notes the critical role of "culturally-sensitive implementation strategies" (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 1999).

One barrier to improved understanding of the role of cultural norms in health is the common failure to distinguish between race, ethnicity, and culture. These concepts are often used interchangeably, implying that racial categories have scientific validity, and that one's membership in these homogeneous racial groupings has an overriding significance to health outcomes. Neither is true. The evidence indicates that variations within cultural, socioeconomic, and political groups have far more relevance to health behavior, risk, and status than differences between groups. Progress has clearly been made, however, since the "first generation" of health promotion studies conducted from the 1960s through the early 1980s. During this time, research focused on reducing health risks through interventions aimed at broad population segments—predominately at the white middle class. Little or no differentiation was made in terms of targeting different cultural populations.

In the late 1980s and 1990s, the "second generation" of health promotion studies were immersed in racial and ethnic group differences. These studies mainly focused on descriptive and intervention studies of African-American and Hispanic populations, but they showed little ability to distinguish universal from culturally specific factors, both because of the heterogeneity of these populations and the imprecise use of the concepts of race, ethnicity, and culture.

Current theories used to explain behavior and inform health-promoting interventions, however, continue to be founded on an assumption of universality (commonalities in human behavior across groups). This monocultural view of health behavior is based on Eurocentric cultural values of autonomy and individuality, as noted, for example, in the Patient's Bill of Rights (Annas 1998) and the Belmont Report (USDHEW 1979). This focus on individuality also frames how professionals are educated to provide care and how patients are expected to respond within the system. Yet these values are based upon a particular cultural construction of reality that is antithetical to many other cultures in which the needs of the group supersede the importance of the individual. This focus on individual autonomy is increasingly recognized as too restrictive to be valid or functional to predict behavior or to design effective interventions in cultural groups other than those for whom these theories and models were developed.

The need for a "third generation" of health-promotion studies has been suggested to elucidate similarities and differences through cross-cultural research that distinguishes among more meaningful subgroups based on cultural norms and other relevant shared characteristics. In this way, interventions to improve access to care and promote health could not only be targeted more precisely to those in need, but could be tailored to appropriate cultural norms, thus providing a greater likeli-hood of acceptability, relevance, and success. With increasing clarity in the role and nature of cultural norms as they relate to health, advances will be evident in public health interventions that recognize, respect, and respond to the similarities and differences throughout all segments of American society.

Marjorie Kagawa-Singer

Rena J. Pasick

(see also: Acculturation; Attitudes; Behavior, Health-Related; Biculturalism; Community Health; Cross-Cultural Communication, Competence; Cultural Appropriateness; Cultural Factors; Cultural Identity; Customs; Health Promotion and Education; Lifestyle; Predisposing Factors; Race and Ethnicity; Theories of Health and Illness )

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