With this definition, it is necessary to consider: Time must also be taken into account, as what is considered abnormal at one time in one culture may be normal another time, even in the same culture.įor example, one hundred years ago, a pregnancy outside of marriage was considered a sign of mental illness and some women were institutionalized, whereas now this is not the case Age and Genderĭifferent people can behave in the same way and for some will be normal and others abnormal, depending on age and gender (and sometimes other factors).įor example, a man wearing a dress and high heels may be considered socially abnormal as society would not expect it, whereas this is expected of women Context and SituationĪt any one time, a type of behavior might be considered normal whereas another time the same behavior could be abnormal, depending on both context and situation.įor example, wearing a chicken suit in the street for a charity event would seem normal, but wearing a chicken suit for everyday activities such as shopping or going to church, it would be socially abnormal. Voice pitch and volume, touching, direction of gaze and acceptable subjects for discussion have all been found to vary between cultures. There are a number of influences on social norms that need to be taken into account when considering the social norms definition:ĭifferent cultures and subcultures are going to have different social norms.įor example, it is common in Southern Europe to stand much closer to strangers than in the UK. is the violation rude, eccentric, abnormal or criminal? With this definition, it is necessary to consider the degree to which a norm is violated, the importance of that norm and the value attached by the social group to different sorts of violation e.g. Think and behave like everyone else break these norms so are often defined as abnormal. Norms areĮxpected ways of behaving in a society according to the majority and those members of a society who do not Their behavior may be incomprehensible to others or make others feel threatened or uncomfortable.Įvery culture has certain standards for acceptable behavior, or socially acceptable norms. Violation of social norms is a definition of abnormality where a person's thinking or behavior is classified as abnormal if it violates the (unwritten) rules about what is expected or acceptable behavior in a particular social group. Violation of Social Norms Violation of Social Norms Instead, any specific abnormal behavior may be unusual, but it is not unusual for people to exhibit some form of prolonged abnormal behavior at some point in their lives, and mental disorders such as depression are actually very statistically common. This definition also implies that the presence of abnormal behavior in people should be rare or statistically unusual, which is not the case. With 69 is abnormal, and someone with 70 normal? Who decides what is statistically rareĪnd how do they decide? For example, if an IQ of 70 is the cut-off point, how can we justify saying someone The decision of where to start the "abnormal" classification is arbitrary. This would make it common but that does not mean it isn’t a problem. Depression may affect 27% of elderly people (NIMH, 2001). Some characteristics are regarded as abnormal even though they are quite frequent. left-handedness) have no bearing on normality or abnormality. Many rare behaviors or characteristics (e.g. Conversely, high IQ is statistically abnormal, but may well be regarded as highly desirable. For example, obesity is statistically normal but not associated with healthy or desirable. However, this definition fails to distinguish between desirable and undesirable behavior. The statistical approach helps to address what is meant by normal in a statistical context. For instance, one may say that an individual who has an IQ below or above the average level of IQ in society is abnormal. With this definition it is necessary to be clear about how rare a trait or behavior needs to be before we class it as abnormal. Under this definition of abnormality, a person's trait, thinking or behavior is classified as abnormal if it is rare or statistically unusual.
Statistical Infrequency Statistical Infrequency
Definitions of Abnormality Definitions of Abnormality
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