Learn English – “Norms” A Negative word

word-usage

Now kindly help me understand the word at the title.

A textbook gives me two sentences.

Because there are many norms in existing in society, occasional violations are unavoidable.

Sanctions are punishments used to enforce conformity to norms.

According to Merriam Unabirdged, there are 5 definitions.

1
: an authoritative rule or standard : model, type, pattern; specifically : a hypothetical mineral composition of a rock calculated according to certain definite rules and usually differing widely from the actual mineral composition or mode

2
: a standard of conduct or ethical value : a principle of right action : maxim; especially : an imperative statement asserting or denying that something ought to be done or has value

3
: an ideal standard binding upon the members of a group and serving to guide, control, or regulate proper and acceptable behavior

4
: average

: such as
a : a set standard of development or achievement usually derived from the average or median achievement of a large group

specifically : a production quota set for a worker

b : the average score of a specified class of persons on a specified test

c : a pattern or trait taken or estimated to be typical in the behavior of a social group because most frequently observed

d : something (as a widespread or usual practice, procedure, or custom) that is normal or expected

5
a : a real-valued nonnegative function defined on a vector space and satisfying the conditions that the function is zero if and only if the vector is zero, the function of the product of a scalar and a vector is equal to the product of the absolute value of the scalar and the function of the vector, and that the function of the sum of two vectors is less than or equal to the sum of the functions of the two vectors; specifically : the square root of the sum of the squares of the absolute values of the elements of a matrix or of the components of a vector

b : the greatest distance between two successive points of a set of points that partition an interval into smaller intervals

Now, whereas it seems the word norm(s) of the textbook is used negatively to me, the dictionary seems to me to give just "normal" uses, which is standard or average, and so on.

Which definition would the word norm in the textbook fall under?

I decided to pick Andrews's answer as the best. The reason is, I encountered another text.

Quote

In all societies, heterosexuality is the norm. No society encourages homosexuality.

Keeping off if the homosexuality is thought be one of the "norms" in today's society, the speaker's intention, published by a Japanese TOEFL preparation school, which comprises of many English native speakers, became clearer to me.

Anything is relative. Any norm, however it is "welcomed" in a society, is relative.

Thank you Andrew. ( I did not select his as the best because of the number of the upvotes, kindly be reminded. )

Best Answer

"Norm" is neutral by default. Any negative or positive connotation is implied by context.

When you visit another country, you should always try to follow societal norms so as not to cause offense.

How can I follow those so-called "norms" when I don't want to be anything like the other kids at school?

In my first example sentence, "norms" is neutral or slightly positive to mean "what is common and courteous". In my second example sentence "norms" means more like the negative "what everyone else does because they aren't original or interesting".

Of course, a "norm" is a matter of perspective. What seems normal to one person might seem outrageous or even offensive to another. Again, context is everything.

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