The 9 most important types of standards

Norms exist in all societies and cultures. These are behavioral guidelines that guide our behavior, a kind of explicit or implicit rules that help us understand how to act in different situations.

But there are many ways in which the rules are expressed. In this article we will know 9 types of norms according to three classification parameters: its type of indication, its degree of formality and its scope of application. We will know the characteristics of each type and what penalties its non-compliance entails.

• Related article: "The 5 types of social norms: how society modulates behaviors"

What are the standards?

The rules are guidelines or rules of behavior, which tell us how to act and how not to act, in which areas. That is to say, in a certain way they regulate what is legal and what is not, “what can be done and what cannot”. That is why they have an implicit ethical component.

They are a kind of agreements that we accept when we enter a specific area (for example, a school, a church, a club ...). There are different types of rules according to the criterion or parameter that we use to classify them.

In addition, the norms evolve throughout the ages, they keep changing; in different cultures, there are also different types of norms (more flexible, more rigid, more restricted ...). That is to say, that culture, at times, and according to what areas, has an important weight in the elaboration of the different types of norms.

Features

The most notable functions of the different types of norms are: on the one hand, they serve so that there is a certain control in society; what's more, regulate behavior and tell us how to behave in certain contexts when we do not know very well how to act.

On the other hand, they allow establishing a "unit of measure" to assess and evaluate people's behavior. In addition, another of its functions is that help meet the needs we have within society, and can avoid major social conflicts.

Main types of standards

We can classify the different types of rules according to three different parameters that we will see.

1. According to its degree of formality

In this sense, the rules can be formal or informal:

1.1. Formal rules

Formal rules are usually presented in writing (or by means of a symbol, depending on what contexts). For example, a formal rule would be “forbidden to eat on the bus”, or “the employee must notify that he leaves work at least 15 days in advance”.

They are rules that are agreed and formally communicated (with more or less formality). In addition, this type of norm usually includes the negative consequence of not complying with said norm.

1. 2. Informal rules

By cons, informal rules they are unspoken rules; that is, it is not necessary for them to be expressed or said explicitly, since they are norms that are understood or presupposed by the context. These types of rules are implicitly accepted by people.

For example, informal rules would be: "do not shout in church", "do not go naked in the street", or "do not hit at school".

2. According to your type of indication

According to the type of indication or conduct to follow (or not to follow) established by the norm, we find two types of norms, which we will see below. Namely, Does the rule prohibit a behavior or does it indicate a behavior to be followed? Let's see the difference.

2.1. Prescriptive standards

Prescriptive standards indicate behaviors that must be followed. That is, they establish guidelines for appropriate or appropriate behavior. For example: “shower before entering the pool”, “keep quiet inside the library” or “close the door after leaving”.

2.2. Proscriptive rules

On the contrary, the proscriptive norms indicate behaviors to avoid, behaviors that cannot be done; namely, it's more about bans. This is why they are generally less flexible.

For example, proscriptive rules could be: “do not step on the grass”, “no smoking” or “no bathing on the beach with a red flag”.

3. According to its scope of application

According to the third classification parameter, its scope of application, we can find 5 types of standards:

3.1. Social norms

Social norms they are obligatory "pacts" that we must follow when we are in society (on the street, in public places ...), and that were agreed at the time rather spontaneously. That is, they are rules that initially arose like this, thinking about respect between people.

Its function is to ensure a good coexistence among citizens. Failure to comply with any of them generally implies a sanction for the citizen, but this sanction is of a social nature, not legal (for example, social exclusion). An example would be not stepping on the lawns in parks, or not dirtying the public space; its non-compliance is very likely to generate rejection by citizens.

Some social norms have served as the basis for the elaboration of legal norms by the State. That is, they have derived from social norms. These types of norms are different in each culture.

3.2. Religious norms

This type of norm has to do, as its name indicates, with a specific religious current or philosophy. That is, each religion establishes its standards, and they refer to what a believer of that religion is expected to do or not do. They are closely related to morality and ethics, since many times they allude to "good and evil".

In the Christian religion, for example, the fact of breaking certain religious norms, supposes a sin. On the other hand, its non-compliance is related to a sanction more of a spiritual nature (for example: praying "X" number of prayers of the Our Father, or praying the Virgin Mary).

These sanctions will obviously vary from one religion to another., and from one culture to another. In addition, the seriousness of the sin will also influence, even talking about "going to hell" in case of breaking more serious religious norms. Religious norms can be found written in the Bible (in the case of the Christian tradition), in sacred texts or documents, etc.

• You may be interested: "Types of religion (and their differences in beliefs and ideas)"

3.3. Legal or legal norms

Continuing with the types of rules according to their scope of application, we find the legal or juridical rules. These are the "official" standards in each city or country.; its fulfillment is obligatory for all. They guide and govern how we citizens should behave (civil behavior). They are rules that must be written and reflected in a legal document.

These rules established by legal and judicial institutions that regulate society. Failure to comply with them carries certain types of sanctions. These sanctions can be administrative (fines) or criminal (jail, criminal record ...). They are a type of norms that make it possible to prevent major misfortunes from happening within society (for example, serious recklessness, murders ...).

They have a lot to do with social norms, and with what is "right" and what is "wrong" within a society. That is why they tell us and define how to act and how not to act, and allow us to "control" the well-being and tranquility of citizens, businesses, companies, etc.

3.4. Moral standards

The moral refers to human behavior that is "good" and that is "bad". In a certain way, morality makes it possible to judge the behavior of people in society. That is why moral norms have a lot to do with ethics, a more global discipline than morality, which values ​​human behavior in society.

Ethics also tries to understand and study the relationships between good and evil, human behavior and morals. Thus, moral norms are related to pacts or social conventions about what is ethical (correct) and what is not. These are types of rules that have (or should have) special regard for human rights, respect and dignity of people.

Moral norms are often implicit norms, of tacit agreement and compliance, which are not written anywhere. They have to do mostly with relationships with others, and are sometimes somewhat subjective (for example, Moral norms could be: "do not date my sister's ex partner", or "do not tell lies to people who I want").

Its non-compliance is related to a sanction more of a spiritual or conscience type, such as guilt or remorse. In other words, the sanction has more to do with oneself. Sometimes moral norms are related to religious norms, as we have already seen, since both share aspects of personal conscience and remorse.

• You may be interested: "The 10 types of values: principles that govern our lives"

3.5. Protocol rules

Also called "rules of etiquette"These types of rules indicate how we should be dressed at a party, how we should behave and eat in a fancy restaurant, etc. That is, they have more to do with elegance and good behavior in contexts with a high economic level, of great demand or where it is important to maintain a good reputation.

Thus, they are standards that apply in certain social contexts (dinners, parties, weddings ...), especially in settings with a lot of "cache" or with people with high positions and responsibilities (for example royalty, politicians ...).

They include, as we anticipated: the way of dressing, the way of eating (the cutlery to use with each plate, for example), even the way of entering and greeting, etc.

Bibliographic references:

• Elster, J. (2009). Social Norms and the Explanation of Behavior. The Oxford Handbook of Analytical Sociology: 195-217, edited by P. Hedström and P. Bearman. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Oceja, L.V., & Jiménez, I. (2001). Toward a psychological classification of norms (Toward a psychosocial typology of norms). Psychology Studies, 22: 227–242.
• Treasury (2002). Institutions, Social Norms and Well-being.