Examination of a Social Norm. Social Sciences. Essay

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Examination of a Social Norm
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October 19, 2018
Introduction
In its basic definition, norms are “principles of right actions binding upon the members of a group and serving to guide, control, or regulate proper and acceptable behaviour” (Meriam-Webster.com). These principles, although widely known, are followed by almost every member of society either consciously or unconsciously. This is because most of these norms have their own ‘binding force’ existing in a variety of modes and extent (Zhou, Horrey and Yu). In order to further understand the concept of norms, this article would focus on one of its most widely known examples around the world, which is ‘the use of pedestrian lane when crossing the street’. To enrich our analysis, this norm would be analysed based on different criteria of understanding.
The Use of Pedestrian Lanes
Just as any other types of norms, the act (and expectation) of using pedestrian lanes to cross the street is widely known to everyone. In almost every part of the world, people could recognise what a pedestrian line (or lane) is, regardless of the differences in its design. Additionally, people also recognise the attributed meaning of these lines as the “designated path for humans to cross the street”. Nonetheless, it is worth noting that this norm is not only known and followed by only a single segment of the society but rather by everyone. Even a quick glance in a typical vehicle intersection would show that most people follow this norm regardless of age, gender, status, education, and origin. In other words, the knowledge of the purpose and the use or a pedestrian lane is unlike other norms, since almost every segment of the society knows it unlike other types of common knowledge that only applies to a particular group.
Regarding transmission, this norm is usually transmitted through the process of upbringing, dissemination in mass media, posting of codified rules, as well as group actions and behaviours. Group actions and behaviours refer to how others act, thus prescribing the same action to an observant (i.e., observing when people cross the street based on the colour of the stoplight). However, it could easily be argued that the main reasons why most people are knowledgeable of these rules are: (1) its meaning is transmitted at an early age, and (2) rules can be quickly followed (e.g., by simply following other people’s actions)...