Everyday norms have become more permissive over time and vary across cultures

Every social situation that people encounter in their daily lives comes with a set of unwritten rules about what behavior is considered appropriate or inappropriate. These everyday norms can vary across societies: some societies may have more permissive norms in general or for certain behaviors, or for certain behaviors in specific situations. In a preregistered survey of 25,422 participants across 90 societies, we map societal differences in 150 everyday norms and show that they can be explained by how societies prioritize individualizing moral foundations such as care and liberty versus binding moral foundations such as purity. Specifically, societies with more individualistic morality tend to have more permissive norms in general (greater liberty) and especially for behaviors deemed vulgar (less purity), but they exhibit less permissive norms for behaviors perceived to have negative consequences in specific situations (greater care). By comparing our data with available data collected twenty years ago, we find a global pattern of change toward more permissive norms overall but less permissive norms for the most vulgar and inconsiderate behaviors. This study explains how social norms vary across behaviors, situations, societies, and time.

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Journal
Communications Psychology
Published
2025-10-07
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-025-00324-4
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Cultural Differences and Values
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.44

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article

Everyday norms have become more permissive over time and vary across cultures

Elizaveta Berezina, Hansika Kapoor, Bernardo Manhique, Saša Drače et al.
1 citations
Communications Psychology
Cultural Differences and Values
2.44
article

Everyday norms have become more permissive over time and vary across cultures

Elizaveta Berezina, Hansika Kapoor, Bernardo Manhique, Saša Drače, Randall Waechter, Hyun Euh, Juan Diego Rodríguez-Romero, Drozdstoy Stoyanov, Alberth Estuardo Alvarado Ortiz, Bojana M. Dinić, Rita W. El‐Haddad, Žan Lep, Yasser Alrefaee, Marlon Elías Lobos-Rivera, Ming‐Jen Lin, Jan B. Engelmann, Alisher Aldashev, Brian W. Haas, Given Hapunda, Nijat Muradzada, Sara Romanò, Yanyan Chen, Selka Sadiković, John Jamir Benzon R. Aruta, Giulia Andrighetto, Celine Frank, Toko Kiyonari, Kosuke Takemura, Carlos C. Contreras‐Ibáñez, Eva Boštjančič, Nada Pop‐Jordanova, Angela POTÂNG, Martina Hřebı́čková, Kelsey Bruno, Habib Mohammad Ali, Marie Björnstjerna, Elze Uzdavinyte, Lorena R. Pérez-Floriano, Marie Briguglio, Hans H. Tung, Zsolt Demetrovics, Ravit Nussinson, Gian Luca Pasin, Andrea Czakó, Daybel Pañellas Alvarez, Penny Panagiotopoulou, Esteban Freidín, Yap Boum, Edona Maloku, Gizem Arıkan, Ani Grigoryan, Maurizio Alì, Stavros P. Hadjisolomou, Jonatan Baños-Chaparro, Lutete Christian Ayikwa, Herwin Nanda, Márta Fülöp, Daniel Nettle, Colin Mathew Hugues D. Gill, Lisa M. Leslie, Ragna B. Garðarsdóttir, Wilson López‐López, Dinka Čorkalo Biruški, Vladimer Lado Gamsakhurdia, Ike E. Onyishi, Natalia Soboleva, Maria Luísa Mendes Teixeira, Snežana Smederevac, Narine Khachatryan, Xia Fang, Pablo Pérez de León, Ivana Pedović, Ignacio Escudero Pérez, Michal Kohút, Andreas Glöckner, Tomás Caycho‐Rodríguez, Paweł Boski, Geoffrey Haddock, Davide Barrera, Orlando Júlio André Nipassa, Brent Simpson, Barbara Landon, Andree Hartanto, Kadi Liik, Mahsa Hazrati, Sarah Jane Smith, Junhui Wu, Nneoma G. Onyedire, Alin Gavreliuc, Eemeli Hakoköngäs, Rodrigue Ntonè, Nina Hadžiahmetović, Linda Mohammed, Besni̇k A. Krasniqi, Irina Vartanova, Huyen Thi Thu Bui, Manase Kudzai Chiweshe, Ricardo Borges Rodrigues, Dzintra Iliško, Paul A. M. Van Lange, Per Andersson, Hoon‐Seok Choi, Sheyla Blumen, Milan Oljača, Christian Enrique Cruz Torres, Kristina Stoyanova, Moudachirou Ibikounlé, Juanita Tamayo, Ekaterina Nastina, Yang Li, Pie Ntampaka, Adolfo Quesada‐Román, Piyanjali de Zoysa, M. Jimenez, Katarzyna Growiec, Martín Noé-Grijalva, Biljana Gjoneska, Kimmo Eriksson, Habib Tiliouine, John Thøgersen, Samantha K. Stanley, Minna Persson, Imed Medhioub, Birzhan Batkeyev, Robert M. Ross, Justina Baršytė, Harpa Lind Jónsdóttir, Khatai Aliyev, Boris Christian Herbas Torrico, Kuang‐Hui Yeh, José Portillo, Schontal Moore, Sylvie Graf, Jana L. Raver, Md. Shahin Parvez, Pontus Strimling, Kerry Kawakami, Álvaro San Martín, Pegah Nejat, Peter Haľama, Miguel Landa–Blanco, Zivile Kaminskiene, Nachita Rosun, Yi-Ting Wang, John A. Hunter, Niv Ad, Mohammad Ali, Mohona Mandal, Nathan Mpeti Mbende, Bahar Moraligil, Daniel Erena Sonessa, Tungalag Ulambayar, Brice Martial Yambio, Eric Yankson, Azma Batool, Stéphanie Ngandu Bimina, Khalid Ahmed Abdi, Szilárd Holka, Iva Kapović, Gassemi Karim, Julian B. Kirschner, Jonah Kiruja, Shazia Kousar, Ludovic Lado
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Every social situation that people encounter in their daily lives comes with a set of unwritten rules about what behavior is considered appropriate or inappropriate. These everyday norms can vary across societies: some societies may have more permissive norms in general or for certain behaviors, or for certain behaviors in specific situations. In a preregistered survey of 25,422 participants across 90 societies, we map societal differences in 150 everyday norms and show that they can be explained by how societies prioritize individualizing moral foundations such as care and liberty versus binding moral foundations such as purity. Specifically, societies with more individualistic morality tend to have more permissive norms in general (greater liberty) and especially for behaviors deemed vulgar (less purity), but they exhibit less permissive norms for behaviors perceived to have negative consequences in specific situations (greater care). By comparing our data with available data collected twenty years ago, we find a global pattern of change toward more permissive norms overall but less permissive norms for the most vulgar and inconsiderate behaviors. This study explains how social norms vary across behaviors, situations, societies, and time.

Communications PsychologyVol. 3(1)
Semmelweis University (HU), Namibia University of Science and Technology (NA), Linköping University (SE), Tbilisi State University (GE), University of Sarajevo (BA), Eötvös Loránd University (HU), Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (PT), University of N'Djamena (TD), National Research University Higher School of Economics (RU), University of Nigeria (NG), Uppsala University (SE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Universidad de Guanajuato (MX), Aoyama Gakuin University (JP), Zoological Society of London (GB), Collegio Carlo Alberto (IT), Université de Yaoundé I (CM), University of Helsinki (FI), Hanoi National University of Education (VN), Université Oran 1 Ahmed Ben Bella (DZ), University of the West Indies System (JM), Loughborough University (GB), University of Trnava (SK), University of Nis (RS), University of Zimbabwe (ZW), University of Ljubljana (SI), University of South Carolina (US), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US), Lahore College for Women University (PK), Open University of Israel (IL), University of Iceland (IS), University of Georgia (US), National Taiwan University (TW), National Autonomous University of Honduras (HN), Eduardo Mondlane University (MZ), Flinders University (AU), University of Novi Sad (RS), Shiga University (JP), Kazakh-British Technical University (KZ), Vilnius University (LT), Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (MK), University of Trinidad and Tobago (TT), University of Patras (GR), University of Cologne (DE), University of Zagreb (HR), Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie (BR), Lund University (SE), York University (CA), Tallinn University (EE), Daugavpils University (LV), Yerevan State University (AM), University of Malta (MT), Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (MX), Czech Academy of Sciences (CZ), Aarhus University (DK), Queen's University (CA), Trinity College Dublin (IE), Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK), Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (CO), Galileo University (GT), Imam Mohammad ibn Saud Islamic University (SA), University of Hargeisa (SO), Universidad Científica del Sur (PE), Forman Christian College (PK), University of Havana (CU), Medical University Plovdiv (BG), Universidad César Vallejo (PE), École Normale Supérieure - PSL (FR), Moldova State University (MD), Al al-Bayt University (JO), West University of Timişoara (RO), University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (BD), Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary (HU), UNSW Sydney (AU), Universidad de Costa Rica (CR), Northumbria University (GB), University of Zambia (ZM), Uniwersytet SWPS (PL), Azerbaijan State University of Economics (AZ), University of Rwanda (RW), Institut Pasteur de Bangui (CF), Institute for Futures Studies (SE), Université Protestante au Congo (CD), Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation (GD), Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica (TW), Universidad Tecnológica de El Salvador (SV), College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago (TT), University of Bangui (CF), Institut Jean Nicod (FR), University of the Southern Caribbean (TT), Indiana University Bloomington (US), Université d'Abomey-Calavi (BJ), Centre of Social and Psychological Sciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK), Educational Research Institute (SI), Centro Científico Tecnológico - Bahía Blanca (AR), Mälardalen University (SE), Institute of Behavioral Sciences (JP), Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Martinique (MQ), Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Economics (DE), Universidad Norbert Wiener (PE), Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology (HU), Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Psychology (CZ), Université d'Oran 2 (DZ), Linköping University Hospital (SE), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies (IT), Institut Supérieur Pédagogique Technique (CD), Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales del Sur, University of Gibraltar, IESE Business School (ES), Addis Ababa University (ET), Shahid Beheshti University (IR), University of Turin (IT), New York University (US), Brunel University of London (GB), De La Salle University (PH), Nagoya University (JP), Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PE), American University of Kuwait (KW), Zhejiang University (CN), Technische Universität Dresden (DE), University of Prishtina (XK), University of Glasgow (GB), Cardiff University (GB), Singapore Management University (SG), University of Otago (NZ), Mälardalen University (SE), Sunway University (MY), Sungkyunkwan University (KR), Universidad Católica del Uruguay (UY), Universidad de Navarra (ES), University of Amsterdam (NL), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (MX), University of Colombo (LK), Universidad Diego Portales (CL), National Cheng Kung University (TW), Tecnológico de Monterrey (MX), Macquarie University (AU), University of Hassan II Casablanca (MA)
National Science Foundation, John Templeton Foundation, University of Otago, University of South Carolina, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, Slovenská Akadémia Vied, York University, Grantová Agentura České Republiky, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hungarian Scientific Research Fund, Linköpings Universitet, Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse, Narodowe Centrum Nauki, Vetenskapsrådet, Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation, Aoyama Gakuin University, University of Colombo, Nemzeti Kutatási Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal, Mälardalens högskola, Singapore Management University, Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Sunway University, Youth Innovation Promotion Association
Openalex Percentile: Top 9%
Cultural Differences and Values
2.44
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