Values are important beliefs or ideals of a person in a community, serving as a motivation for action. Norms are action-guiding rules.

What are norms and examples?

Norms are a fundamental concept in the social sciences. They are most commonly defined as rules or expectations that are socially enforced. Norms may be prescriptive (encouraging positive behavior; for example, “be honest”) or proscriptive (discouraging negative behavior; for example, “do not cheat”).

Why norms and values are important?

Norms provide order in society. ... Human beings need norms to guide and direct their behavior, to provide order and predictability in social relationships and to make sense of and understanding of each other's actions. These are some of the reasons why most people, most of the time, conform to social norms.