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

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 vul

SUBMITTER: Eriksson K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12504534 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature