Cultural Norms Research Paper

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Depending upon culture, there are many different values and norms. Culture plays a huge role in that, but gender, society and some other aspects may have a say in them as well. The values may be something you keep close to yourself in a way, such as how you think and what you believe. The norms of a society are basically just what should be occurring without any thought and is seen as normal. Values are “ideas held by individuals or groups about what is desirable, proper, good, and bad. What individuals value is strongly influenced by the specific culture in which they happen to live.” Values are important to many individuals because in a way, it defines who they are as a person. Dependant on the culture an individual lives in, it is important …show more content…

A norm either prescribes a given type of behavior or forbids it.” Norms are basically how someone believes they should act based on their surroundings. In a way what is normal to most people becomes a norm for others because they adapt to the social groups and setting they find themselves in. An example of a norm in a social group is when the Ku Klux Klan formed many wondered why this group of people just followed is everyone else was doing. Once they put on the masks they took on the role and just did what everyone else was doing it became a norm for that particular social group. In a way it was the same for the Jonestown Massacre. Everyone that attended this church just followed these beliefs and it just became a norm to those individuals that in the end they just followed what everyone was doing and drank the koolaid. Norms are apart of everyday life. They become routines that you may or may not realise it is happening.
Values and norms have different ideas, but can have similarities. The idea of following these values as well as norms are what is similar. Values differ from norms because they are always something that sticks with each individual from different cultures and beliefs. Norms are something that is followed in everyday life for a period of time, but eventually the norms change as an individual grows up, and moves onto different social groups. They are both equally

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