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WhenCaptain Cook asked the chiefs in Tahiti why they always ate apart and alone,they replied, “Because it is right.”If we ask Americans whythey eat with knives and forks, or why their men wear pants instead of skirtsor why they may be married to only one person at a time, we are likely to getsimilar and very uninformative answers because it’s right, because that’s theway it’s done, because it’s the custom or even I don’t know. The reason forthese and countless other patterns of social behavior is that they arecontrolled by social norms shared rules or guide lines which prescribe thebehavior that is appropriate in a given situation. Norms define how people oughtto behave under particular circumstances in a particular society. We conform tonorms so readily that we are hardly aware they exist. In fact we are much morelikely to notice departures from norms than conformity to them. You will not besurprised if a stranger tried to shake hands when you were introduced, but youmight be a little startled if they bowed, started to stroke you or kissed youon both cheeks. Yet each of these other forms of greeting is appropriate inother parts of the world. When we visit another society whose norms aredifferent, we quickly become aware that things we do this way, they do thatway.
