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Social norms affect almost every aspect of people's lives, and can be an obstacle to or support economic development. This paper outlines what social norms are and how they work, providing examples from everyday life and from development case studies. Sometimes not much can be done about changing undesirable social norms. In those cases, development economists need to be aware of how the existence of those norms can impact the effects of the policies they advocate. But of particular importance to development economists is the ways in which social norms can be changed, at least under some circumstances. Understanding of social norm change is still patchy at best, but the paper outlines the theoretical underpinnings of change, with empirical evidence from various policies aimed at changing social norms. However, some of those policies raise ethical concerns that would require attention.

Abuse --- Access to finance --- Adoption --- Alcohol --- Altruism --- Anthropologist --- Anthropology --- Beliefs --- Child care --- Child-rearing --- Circumcision --- Civil war --- Condom --- Condoms --- Cooperation --- Cultural differences --- Culture & development --- Cultures --- Developing countries --- Development efforts --- Development policy --- Discrimination --- Domestic violence --- Drugs --- Economic growth --- Education of women --- Employment opportunities --- Ethics --- Ethics & belief systems --- Ethnicity --- Ethnographic evidence --- Ethnography --- Exogamy --- Family members --- Fatherhood --- Female "circumcision" --- Female genital cutting --- Female genital mutilation --- Female sexuality --- Gender --- Gender & social development --- Gender equality --- Gender norms --- Gender relations --- Gender roles --- Genital cutting --- Girls --- Health impact --- Health, nutrition and population anthropology --- Household income --- Household work --- Households --- Human behavior --- Human behaviour --- Husbands --- Impact on children --- Land tenure --- Living-standards --- Machismo --- Mandates --- Masculinity --- Maternity leave --- Media --- Modernization --- Moral norms --- Morality --- Mother --- Mutilation --- Ownership of land --- Parental leave --- Participatory process --- Peace --- Peer pressure --- Policy-makers --- Political change --- Population policies --- Pregnancies --- Principles --- Property --- Property rights --- Public policy --- Public service --- Religion --- Ritual --- Role models --- Rural communities --- Safe sex --- Sex --- Sexual violence --- Sexuality --- Smarriage --- Soap operas --- Social change --- Social development --- Social group --- Social inequality --- Social information --- Social interactions --- Social issues --- Social life --- Social marketing --- Social meanings --- Social norms --- Social policy --- Social practice --- Social pressure finance and financial sector development --- Social psychology --- Social security --- Social status --- Societies --- Sociobiology --- Substance abuse --- Taboo --- Teenagers --- Television network --- Unplanned pregnancies --- Violence against women --- War --- Women --- Young men --- Young people --- Young women