Table of contentsCultureLanguageValuesBeliefsNormsDefinitionTypesFolkwaysMoreTabooResearchCultural psychologycultural looseness and narrownessIntercultural misunderstandingsConclusionReferencesQuotesA person is about to cross the street. What is he doing? If there are no cars, do you stay at the pedestrian crossing, waiting for the lights to change? Or does he just jump in? Does he look left first before crossing or does he look right? Or maybe he's just crossing the street shouting, "Hey, I'm coming this way!" » Whatever he does, it will depend on the culture. His actions may depend on how he was raised in a society or the society he is currently in. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay From very small things like crossing the street to larger concepts like traditional arts are all part of culture. It is generally observed that people living in a certain country think and behave the same way and people from one country or culture are very different from people from another culture. The difference here has to do with cultural norms. The term “culture” refers to the patterns of behavior and attitudes of a given group. “Norm” refers to attitudes and patterns of behavior that are considered typically normal within a group. Cultural norms are what allow people to move in a similar direction. All societies have cultural norms. These norms influence every facet of our lives. People are often unaware that their values, attitudes and behavior are all influenced by it. This article attempts to define and explain this relationship between culture and the norms that exist in every society. This article also attempts to find out what the different types of norms are in culture and psychology and why such relationships exist in the first place. CultureWe must first define these terms independently, only then it is possible to understand the relationship between them. Culture is the way in which non-material objects such as thoughts, actions, language and values ​​combine with material objects to form a way of life. Culture can basically be broken down into two main elements, namely things and ideas. When a person crosses a road, they can see markers of their culture in the things around them, such as road signs, road width, speed and style of cars. It is material culture, the culture of things. But much of the culture contained in crossing the street is also intangible. We interpret the color red to mean stop, because our culture has assigned red as a sign to stop and green as a sign to go. If a person grew up in a country where cars drive on the right side of the road, their parents probably taught them to look left first before crossing. It is immaterial culture, the culture of things. It is made up of the intangible creations of human society which are values, symbols, customs and ideals. Language, values, beliefs and norms are the 4 pillars of any culture. All cultures can be thought of in terms of these four variables. LanguageWritten language, spoken language or non-verbal language make it possible to share things that make up a culture in a process called cultural transmission. Language helps communicate with each other and further affects the way people in a culture perceive things that matter to them.surround. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is a theory that a person's thoughts and actions are influenced by the cultural lens created by the language they speak. For example, what is the gender of the moon. In many languages ​​like German, the moon is considered male while in others like Spanish, it is considered a feminine object, which affects how Germans and Spanish people perceive the moon. . There was a study in which the Germans and the Spanish were tasked with describing the characteristics of the moon, for example: is the moon beautiful, is it robust, is it powerful. It was discovered that as the Germans used the moon as a masculine article, they associated the moon with stereotypically masculine traits and the Spanish in the opposite way. Thus, it can be very clearly observed that language helps to communicate, shape and transmit culture. Values ​​Values ​​help organize culture into moral categories. Values ​​are the cultural norms that people use to decide what is right and wrong, what is right and what is wrong. They are considered the ideals and guidelines by which people live in a society. Different cultures value different things and these values ​​help us understand why different social structures are seen around the world. For example, it is generally observed in Western cultures that young adults live separated from their parents because there, people tend to value individualism and emphasize the importance of each person's needs. Whereas in Eastern cultures, it is observed that young adults 2 generally live with their parents because the latter value collectivism and emphasize the importance of groups over individuals.BeliefsBeliefs are more explicit than values. Beliefs are a specific idea of ​​what people living in a society think is true about the world. NormsDefinitionWikipedia defines social norms as collective representations of acceptable group conduct as well as individual perceptions of particular group conduct. They essentially help to define the standard of living of people living in a society. People imbibe these norms from their parents, friends, immediate peers while growing up. Norms typically differ across cultures and often end up contributing to cross-cultural misunderstandings. Norms are agreed-upon expectations and rules that guide people within a culture. For example, it is better to give up your seat to an elderly person, but holding your nose in public is looked down upon. Simply put, norm simply refers to what everyone thinks is "normal", whether something is culturally acceptable or not. Types There are basically three types of norms that can be identified in any human society. . Folkways are small, informal rules that are self-evident. It is not considered illegal if people violate traditions, but there are consequences. Negative sanctions are associated if they are not respected. A very simple example might be if someone enters an elevator and stands facing the back wall instead of facing the main door. No one will tell the person that they behave poorly, but people will judge them and look at them askance. Folkway is generally very subjective and hierarchical as well. A particular folk tradition may be subjective to an individual, group, or society as a whole. Sometimes they can also constitute positive sanctions. An example of this is when a teenager has a lip ring. He/she can be punishedby his parents, but his friends might think it's very cool. Thus proving its subjectivity.MoralsAnother type of norms are morals, which are more official than popular customs and are stated as rules and laws of a society. They are generally more codified and formalized. If morals are broken, there are certainly negative consequences. Negative sanctions are stricter and more severe. Standing facing the back wall of the elevator may make people think you're a weirdo, but arriving at work without clothes will probably get you fired. The reason is that there are strict rules regarding dress code in every venue. A particular type of clothing will be considered acceptable in one place and completely inappropriate in another. It's okay to walk around on a beach without a shirt, but totally wrong in an office. TabooThe third type of norm is the strictest and most serious form of norm, namely taboo. Taboos are norms essential to the moral center of a society. These behaviors, if followed, will always lead to negative sanctions. Whatever the circumstances, it is never acceptable to ignore a taboo. The reason they are so badly looked down upon is that they violate the very sense of decency. The following example takes a close look at what is actually considered taboo. If we talk about killing, whether or not killing is a taboo. At first, everyone might think so, because killing is a bad thing and therefore should be considered taboo. But that's not the case. Although most cultures believe that murder is wrong and illegal, it is not always considered illegal. According to most societies, it is acceptable to kill in war or in self-defense. So what can actually be considered taboo? Some examples are cannibalism, incest or pedophilia. These cannot be defended under any circumstances. They are always considered false.ResearchCultural PsychologyA person living in a particular society is well aware of the cultural norms prevailing in that society. But to understand another culture and how the norms present in that culture relate to each other, it is very important to follow a scientific method in order to get a clear idea of ​​it. There is a separate field that focuses on topics such as cultural psychology. Cultural psychology is the study of how cultures reflect and shape the psychological processes of their members. It focuses on the fact that people are shaped by people are shaped by their culture and their culture is shaped by people. Individual thoughts and actions influence cultural norms and practices as they evolve over time, and these cultural norms and practices influence the thoughts and actions of individuals. Cultural Looseness and Tightness So actually, how important are cultural norms, and do norms matter more in some places? than others. Recently, Michele Gelfand and a large team of cultural psychologists theorized about “cultural tightness” and “cultural looseness.” Some people may care a lot about their cultural norms by insisting on strong conformity reflecting cultural narrowness, while others might tolerate many deviations from norms. In his article, Gelfand attempted to determine what factors lead a society to become culturally tight or loose. It also gives various situations demonstrating how a society moves from a culturally tight society to a./35068