The influence of social norms and moral values ​​on the life of society

Moral standards are similar to legal ones. The thing is that they act as the main mechanism by which human behavior is formed. Thus, moral norms today are unwritten rules and laws that have developed over several millennia of human existence. In the legal field, laws are legally enshrined.

Moral culture

Moral norms and values ​​are the practical embodiment of morality. Their peculiarity lies in the fact that they determine the consciousness and characteristics of people’s behavior in all spheres of life: everyday life, family, professional activity, interpersonal relationships.

Moral standards are a set of rules defining human behavior, the violation of which causes harm to society or a group of people. They are formulated in the form of a specific set of actions. For example:

• you need to give way to those who are older;
• say hello when meeting another person;
• be generous and protect those who are weaker;
• arrive on time;
• speak culturally and politely;
• wear this or that clothes, etc.

Functions of morality

The foundation for building a healthy personality

Spiritual and moral norms and values ​​constitute the image of a person who is perfect in the sense of conforming to the pattern of piety. This is the portrait you should strive for. In this way, the ultimate goals of an action are expressed. An image such as Jesus in Christianity is used as an ideal. He tried to instill justice in human hearts and was a great martyr.

Moral rules and norms play the role of personal life guidelines for a particular person. A personality sets its own goals, in which its positive or negative side is manifested. Most people strive for happiness, freedom, and knowledge of the meaning of life. Moral standards help them regulate their moral behavior, thoughts and feelings.

Morality functions in society as a combination of three structural elements, each of which represents one aspect of morality. These elements are moral activity, moral attitudes and moral consciousness.

Approaches to the Study of Morality

Naturalistic - comes from the complication of group feelings, ensures the survivability of the species in nature. Naturalists do not distinguish between the social and the biological; it is combined; there is no boundary between human and animal consciousness.

Religious-idealistic – God endowed humanity with morality.

Sociological - morality arises as a result of collective work activity and communication. The more complex social relationships, the higher the morality.

There are 3 moral foundations put forward:

1. Traditions, customs and mores are the cultural characteristics of a particular ethnic group (people). With the help of socialization, the customs and norms of a given society are assimilated, which become a habit that shapes the personal side of a person. As a result, all actions will be of the nature of “this is how it is accepted” or “this is not accepted.”
2. Public opinion is the regulation of norms of behavior through the approval or condemnation of other individuals in society. The reward for compliance with moral standards is honor, respect, recognition, and for violations - shame, isolation.
3. Personal consciousness is the consistency of personal and social interests. Conscience is the main regulator of behavior. Morality appears to be a form of self-regulation, being selfless and personal. The choice of actions is characterized by voluntariness.

Moral consciousness is the ideal of moral behavior in a particular society, which does not go beyond the boundaries of the ethnic group.

Moral norm - has a formative effect on the moral beliefs of the individual: self-improvement, honesty, courage, struggle for truth.

A moral norm is options for a person’s everyday behavior: which actions are acceptable in society and which are not.

Imperativeness is a property of moral norms. Expresses the meaning of the norm, since in one case a prohibition is allowed, and in another, positivity is attributed. For example: “don’t lie.” A set of norms is determined by a moral code.

• In addition, the code includes value orientations:
• Characteristics of personality actions;
• The virtues of the individual, team, society;
• Characteristics of public institutions;
• Value concepts
• Categories of morality - good and evil, justice.

Motivation, assessment, self-esteem - a regulator of social behavior. Motive encourages moral activity in order to satisfy the needs of the individual. Motivation is a complex of motives responsible for the priority of an individual’s values ​​and goals.

Moral assessment – ​​gives a value assessment of an individual’s actions and behavior depending on existing norms and values ​​in society.

Conscience is moral self-control, expressed in the formulation of rules of behavior, their implementation and evaluation of actions.

Debt is how an individual relates to society.

Morality past and present

These phenomena began to appear quite a long time ago. Each generation and community of people formed their own understanding of good and evil, their own ways of interpreting moral norms.

If we turn to traditional societies, we will see that there the moral character was considered as an unchangeable phenomenon, actually accepted in the absence of freedom of choice. A person of that time could not make a choice between accepting and not accepting the prevailing trends; he had to unconditionally follow them.

Nowadays, in contrast to legal norms, moral norms are more considered as recommendations for achieving happiness for oneself and the surrounding society. If earlier morality was defined as something given from above, prescribed by the gods themselves, today it is something similar to an unspoken social contract that is desirable to follow. But if you disobey, in fact, you can only be condemned, but not held to real responsibility.

You can accept moral laws (for your own good, because they are useful fertilizer for the sprout of a happy soul), or reject them, but this will remain on your conscience. In any case, the entire society revolves around moral standards, and without them its functioning would be incomplete.

Diversity of moral standards

All moral norms and principles can be divided into two groups: requirements and permissions. Requirements include obligations and natural duties. Permissions can also be divided into indifferent and supererogatory.

There is social morality, which implies the most unified framework. There is an unspoken set of rules that operates in a particular country, company, organization or family. There are also attitudes according to which an individual person builds his line of behavior.

In order to understand moral culture not only in theory, but also in practice, you need to do the right things that others will accept and approve of.

Moral requirements

1. Rules of conduct (give way to elders, do not lie, etc.)
2. Moral qualities (honesty, compassion, justice)
3. Moral principles (altruism)
4. Psychological mechanisms (conscience)
5. Moral values ​​(kindness, happiness, etc.)
6. Moral culture is the extent to which an individual perceives the norms and values ​​of the society in which he lives.

Morality is the confrontation between good and evil. Good is understood as a person’s attraction to maintaining interpersonal relationships and achieving perfection. Good is creative in nature, and evil is destructive (destroys social relations and personality from the inside)

Moral choice is the degree of freedom between choosing good and evil. The individual is responsible for the consequences not only to society, but also to himself.

Perhaps the importance of morality is exaggerated?

It may seem that following moral standards shackles a person into narrow boundaries. However, we do not consider ourselves prisoners when using the instructions for this or that radio device. Moral norms are the same scheme that helps us build our lives correctly, without coming into conflict with our conscience.

Moral norms for the most part coincide with legal norms. But there are situations when morality and law come into conflict. Let us examine this issue using the example of the “thou shalt not steal” norm. Let's try to ask the question “Why does this or that person never steal?” In the case where the basis is fear of judgment, the motive cannot be called moral. But if a person does not steal, based on the belief that theft is bad, then the act is based on moral values. But in life it happens that someone considers it his moral duty to do something that, from a legal point of view, is a violation of the law (for example, a person decides to steal medicine in order to save the life of a loved one).

The emergence and types of social norms

The process of their emergence was gradual and is associated with the fact that reason took precedence over instincts. Already in primitive society the first taboos appeared - prohibitions. The most famous of them: the ban on killing a fellow tribesman or marrying fellow tribesmen. Such norms had religious overtones. As a rule, taboos were presented to people by elders, leaders or priests as the will of the gods. In reality, the existence of taboos was explained by the negative experiences of previous generations.

As work activity developed and improved, customs arose. This is the name given to habitual rules of behavior that have developed as a result of repeated repetition, the observance of which is aimed at the benefit of society. Custom has a broader meaning: it is not only prohibitions, but also rules that accompanied various events in the life of the tribe and community. For example, the rules for creating a family, relationships between representatives of different genders and ages. These norms also had religious overtones.

One of the oldest customs that has survived to modern times is the celebration of Maslenitsa. The holiday means saying goodbye to winter and welcoming spring, which are accompanied by mass festivities, chants and competitions, as well as friendly eating of pancakes. Despite the fact that the holiday is an echo of the pagan faith, it is still relevant.

Customs are also considered the most ancient source of law. Legal norms in the form of laws and regulations began to be introduced into the lives of people with the emergence of statehood. In modern society there is a branched system of law, which includes several different branches and institutions. Each industry regulates a specific type of social relations. Legal norms differ from other rules in that they are generally binding and are issued by the state in writing, and legal liability is provided for their violation.

To establish and maintain a certain order, there are other social norms:

• political;
• economic;
• religious;
• etiquette standards;
• moral.

The Importance of Moral Education

You should not expect that the moral environment will develop on its own. It also needs to be built, learned, that is, worked on oneself. It’s just that, along with mathematics and the Russian language, schoolchildren do not study the laws of morality. And, getting into society, people can sometimes feel as helpless and defenseless as if they went to the blackboard in 1st grade and were forced to solve an equation that they had never seen before.

So all the words that good behavior fetters, enslaves and makes a slave out of a person are true only if moral standards are perverted and adjusted to the material interests of one or another group of people.

Social hunger strike

Nowadays, finding the right path in life worries a person much less than social discomfort. Parents care more about their child becoming a good specialist than about being a happy person in the future. It becomes more important to enter into a successful marriage than to know true love. Giving birth to a child is more important than realizing the true need for motherhood.

Moral demands for the most part appeal not to external expediency (if you do this, then you will succeed), but to moral duty (you need to act in a certain way, since this is dictated by duty), thus having the form of an imperative, considered as direct and unconditional command.

Moral standards and human behavior are closely interrelated. However, when thinking about moral laws, a person should not identify them with regulations, but fulfill them, guided by his own desire.