Impact of Norms on Ethics

Impact of Norms on Ethics

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Societal norms and standards form the basis for most ethical core values. As people grow up and interact with others, they learn about the norms to which they are expected to adhere to in the society, and this, in turn, informs the ethical values that they adopt in their lives. People are expected to conform to particular accepted forms of behaviour which are referred to as the norms of a society or community. Some of these norms include gender, profession, age, wealth, ethnicity, tradition and nationality. The core ethical values impacted by these norms include honesty, respect, justice, due process, respect, competence, greed, courage, responsibility, compassion, perseverance and professional judgment. Norms have a significant impact on the core ethical values because a person is expected to conform to norms and standards.

Age has an impact on several core ethical values, of one, which is respect. As one grows up, they get to experience different situations and meet different kinds of people, and this affects the level of respect that they develop. The older a person gets, the more respectful they are because they gain an appreciation for many things in life (McCann et al. 2005). A lot of the time, young people tend to be disrespectful of other people, and that is because they do not take the time to understand other people’s life experiences and situations. When a person is older, it is likely that they have seen a lot of similar things; hence they respect others. For example, an older person knows the things that they cannot do, and they will allow other people to take charge in areas they excel in. They respect other people’s abilities. Another instance of the impact of age on respect is that people tend to respect people older than them. Society views older and aged people as a wealth of knowledge and experience, and accord them high levels of respect. Research also shows that relationships become better with age as people tend to forgive each other more easily.

Age also has an important relationship with responsibility. Some of the main stages in life based on age are childhood, teenage years, early adulthood, late adulthood, middle age and old age. All these stages are based on a person’s age. Society assigns responsibilities to people based on their age. However, this is not to say that younger people are irresponsible; it just means that responsibility requires a level of understanding that comes as one grows older. For example, the legal drinking age is twenty-one years old. This means that at twenty-one, a person has the responsibility to take charge of their decisions when it comes to alcohol, for example, drinking and driving, getting to work drunk and many others. Driving licenses are issued at sixteen years or older in some countries. When a person learns to drive, they become responsible for their lives and those of others on the road. This is a concept that a ten-year-old might not understand, but as they grow older, they begin to grasp the meaning of responsibility. The legal system of a country depends a lot on the age of a person to grant those rights and responsibilities, and these include age of voting, consent, drinking, marriage, criminal responsibility, majority and retirement age (Mounk 2017). The same goes for the professional world, but here age does not necessarily refer to the number of years lived but by level of experience and skill.

The societal norm of wealth affects greed as a core ethical value. Many people in society want to be wealthy because they think it gives them a higher stature. Society emphasizes material possessions as the standard for success; therefore, every person wants to acquire as much wealth as possible. While this is not wrong, the means through which a person acquires this wealth is important. Some people choose to work hard and come up with innovative ideas that help them get rich, while others choose to use corrupt and illegal ways to acquire wealth. Greed can be defined as an intense, excessive and selfish desire for wealth. Greed can also make a person unethical because they are willing to bend the rules so that they can get some perks for themselves (Seltzer 2012). For example, in a contract-awarding process worth billions of dollars, a contractor who is desperate to win can bribe some members of the committee. If those people are greedy and want to get more money, they will take the bribe and award the contract. Greed is dangerous in a professional setting because there are legal and professional standards that people just adhere to. Breaking or circumventing these set rules can lead to serious consequences such as fines, arrest and jail time. A greedy person will never get enough money or wealth, for them chasing after wealth is the thrill (Seltzer 2012).

Gender is a significant determinant of compassion. In all areas of life, women are seen to be more compassionate, while men are more decisive. An article titled “Empathy: Gender Effects in Brain and Behaviour” on the National Institute of Health website explains that there are several reasons for this. One of them is that traditional gender roles encourage women to be more emotional and compassionate, while men are discouraged from this. As people grow up, they, therefore, adapt to such gender norms. Research shows that the development of empathy starts very early in life. At two years of age, children try to help others in distress. However, females show higher levels of concern and empathy compared to males (Christov-Moore et al. 2012). This goes on into adulthood because as children grow up, cultural expectations form their empathetic and compassionate tendencies. In the world of business, women tend to think more compassionately of their decisions will affect others, while men focus on the desired results. For example, in laying off employees, women will be more compassionate to those losing their jobs while men focus on the good of the company, which may be cutting down on costs.

Profession as a societal standard impacts a person’s professional judgment and competence. A profession is a person’s occupation after a period of training to gain the required qualifications. As people grow up, they are encouraged to choose a profession to follow in life, and they can be several of them. Higher education helps a person get the required skills in a professional field of their choice. As the person gets trained, they also get exposed to standards and laws governing their profession that will help them make appropriate judgments. For example, a trained auditor will know that finding huge discrepancies in a company’s accounts that indicate tax evasion or other unethical practices mean that they have to turn over their findings to the relevant authorities. Additionally, profession makes a person competent in their areas of work. A doctor spends years getting trained on how to treat different ailments in patients, and at the end of their training, they are declared competent enough. They have the necessary skills and experience to make the best judgment on what course of action should be taken to treat a sick person.

The societal norm of legislation impacts due process and justice as core ethical values. Due process can be defined as the provision in the constitution that prevents the government from taking away a person’s life, property or liberty before giving the person a fair process. Due process also applies in any situation in which an aggrieved party needs to get a fair hearing and trial before making a decision. Legislation refers to the laws created by lawmakers to maintain law and order in society. The law stipulates the process which two parties must follow before depriving another of their life, property or liberty. For example, in a case two people get into a dispute about money where one refuses to pay back their debt, the aggrieved person cannot simply seize the property of the other person. They have to follow due process, which includes filing a case with the courts which will determine what to do. There must also be evidence of transactions and wrongdoing to help the court settle the case. Justice is also an important ethical value because it ensures fairness and equality in the treatment of all people. The constitution, which contains the laws of the country treats all citizens equally.

In conclusion, many of the core ethical values in different areas of life come from societal norms and standards. These standards and values have a close relationship because they govern how people act in various situations. Examples of norms that have an impact of ethical values are age on responsibility and respect, profession on competence and professional judgment, and legislation on due process and justice. Core ethical values are a reflection of the norms of the society, and they may vary from place to place. Core ethical values are important because they determine a person’s conduct in both their professional and personal life. Norms and ethics help to maintain order in society by dictating what is acceptable and what is not.

References

Christov-Moore, L., Simpson, E. A., Coudé, G., Grigaityte, K., Iacoboni, M., & Ferrari, P. F. (2014). Empathy: gender effects in brain and behavior. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 46, 604-627. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5110041/McCann, R. M., Dailey, R. M., Giles, H., & Ota, H. (2005). Beliefs about intergenerational communication across the lifespan: Middle age and the roles of age stereotyping and respect norms. Communication Studies, 56(4), 293-311.

Mounk, Y. (2017). The Age of Responsibility. Harvard University Press.Seltzer, L. F. “Greed: The Ultimate Addiction” Psychology Today. 17 October 2012. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolution-the-self/201210/greed-the-ultimate-addiction