Social Order - Values and Norms

Values and Norms

Values can be defined as "internal criteria for evaluation". Values are also split into two categories, there are individual values, which pertains to something that we think has worth and then there are social values. Social values are our desires modified according to ethical principles or according to the group we associate with: friends, family, or co-workers. Norms tell us what people ought to do in a given situation. Unlike values, norms are enforced externally – or outside of oneself. A society as a whole determines norms, and they can be passed down from generation to generation.

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Famous quotes containing the words values and/or norms:

    The return to solid values is always hard.... Distress, panic, and hard times have marked our pathway in returning to solid values.
    James A. Garfield (1831–1881)

    There is a totalitarian regime inside every one of us. We are ruled by a ruthless politburo which sets ours norms and drives us from one five-year plan to another. The autonomous individual who has to justify his existence by his own efforts is in eternal bondage to himself.
    Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)