The cultures all across the world differ greatly in their characteristics, practices, and beliefs. The peculiarities of these cultures can be attributed to the role of social norms and values that play a significant part in shaping cultural characteristics.
Social norms, as the name suggests, are the norms or unwritten rules that are followed by the members of a society. The social norms can be divided into two types, folkways and mores. Folkways are the customs and etiquettes that are acceptable in society, while mores are the moral and ethical standards that are strictly followed.
The values, on the other hand, are the beliefs and ideologies that are regarded as essential and valuable to a society. The values can be shaped by a range of factors like religion, history, tradition, and social philosophy.
Influenced by these two factors, the culture of a community can take-on a distinctive character. For instance, the Sardinian culture of Italy that highly values family and community bond features a high rate of elderly cohabitation. The people in Sardinia share living arrangements with their grandparents to uphold their cultural values of taking care of their elders.
In contrast, in the United States of America, where individual autonomy is highly valued, the elderly prefer living alone to maintain their independence and freedom.
Moreover, social norms and values play a crucial role in shaping habits and behavioral patterns of the people. For example, some cultures promote collectivism, where the societal benefit is emphasized over individual objectives. Thus, a communal bank system may exist in such societies where people pool money to handle emergency expenses or welfare needs.
In addition, social norms and values also govern the hierarchical system within a society. These can be seen in practices like the caste system in India, where one’s community, occupation, and heritage dictate their social status in society.
To conclude, social norms and values are the unwritten rules that influence cultural characteristics. These unwritten rules can achieve a lot of beneficial outcomes such as cohesiveness, identity and maintaining social orders. The adherence to these social norms and values shapes the behavior, habits, and traditions of a community and guides the path it takes in building its identity.
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