Group Norms

The rules by which a group has agreed, implicitly or explicitly, to follow.

Culture is a set of values, norms, symbols, language, and way of life shared by a group of people. Culture is passed on from generation to generation. Group norms—the rules of daily living that members of the group adhere to—represent one aspect of culture. Homogeneous cultures, where all the members share language, lifestyle, and racial make-up, have a clear, well-defined set of norms that the group follows. Members of heterogeneous cultures represent a number of subcultures and do not necessarily have one language, lifestyle, and race in common. Thus, such cultures have fewer rules that all members voluntarily live by and tolerate a wider range of lifestyles, languages, and values. This loosening of norms is necessary within the larger culture to avoid conflict between members of the subcultures.

Groups norms are passed down to the next generation beginning in the earliest stages of life. As members of the group interact with a newborn infant, he or she is learning about the group's cultural practices and norms. Cultural institutions, such as schools and religious institutions, continue the transfer of group norms; parochial schools use the curriculum to reinforce religious group norms; public schools reinforce the societal norms or government norms.

Group norms also apply to small groups of people, whenever individuals are affiliated with each other for some common purpose. Examples of groups where norms function to establish standards for behavior are sports teams, a student's peer group, or the group of students in a self-contained classroom. Group norms exert powerful positive or negative forces in motivating students' academic performance and behavior.

Members of a cultural group interact with others from a variety of perspectives. Ethnocentricism describes an attitude of a person who regards his or her own culture as the best. Cultural relativism describes an attitude of a person who is open to understanding other cultures by trying to learn about them. Stereotyping is the making of broad generalizations about individual members of a cultural group, assigning qualities to him or her simply because he or she is a member of the cultural group. An example of a stereotype is "All Germans love beer."

Group norms are a form of peer pressure, and educators and parents try to help children embrace groups norms that are positive and promote good health, such as the norm to perform well academically or to develop good health. Equally powerful are group norms that reward disruptive behavior in the classroom or that value risk-taking, such as engaging in petty crime or using drugs or alcohol to achieve status in a group.

Group Norms

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