norms

Meaning: Norms are socially shared expectations for behavior in a given setting. People learn them through socialization, and groups maintain them with sanctions. Positive sanctions reward conformity (praise, a promotion). Negative sanctions punish violation. Either kind can be formal (a fine, imprisonment) or informal (a frown, gossip, exclusion). Norms are usually sorted by strength:

Folkways are everyday conventions, such as table manners or dress, and breaking them brings mild disapproval. Mores are norms seen as morally essential, and violating them draws strong condemnation. A taboo is an extreme more. Laws are norms written down and enforced by the state.

On the MCAT: A passage describes a behavior and a reaction to it. You classify the norm (folkway, more, or law), decide whether the sanction is formal or informal, or recognize deviance as violation of a norm. Norms also appear in theory questions. Functionalism sees norms as maintaining social order. Conflict theory asks whose interests the norms serve. Symbolic interactionism treats them as shaped in everyday interaction. Norms differ across cultures, settings, and eras.

Common confusion: Norms are not values. Values are broad beliefs about what is good or important (honesty, education), while norms are specific behavioral rules that put values into practice. Also, mores are not the same as laws. Strength is judged by moral weight and reaction, not by whether a rule is written down.