Mores are strongly held norms or customs. These derive from the established practices of a society rather than its written laws. Taboos form the subset of mores that forbid a society's most outrageous behaviours, such as incest and murder in many societies. Usually these are formalized in some kind of moral code, e.g. commandments. Most sociologists reject the thesis that the formalization matters as much as the informal social response of disgust and isolation of offenders. An example of a more might be someone picking his or her nose; which, although harmless, is widely considered as disgusting to the general populace and goes against the normal. It has been suggested that Convention (norm) be merged into this article or section. ... A convention is a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted rules, norms, standards or criteria, often taking the form of a custom. ... A taboo is a strong social prohibition (or ban) against words, objects, actions, discussions, or people that are considered undesirable by a group, culture, or society. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Morality. ... Disgust is an emotion, typically associated with things that are perceived as unclean or inedible. ...

The term mores (IPA [ˈmɔːreɪz]) as used in sociology is a plural noun. The Latin singular, which is not used in English, is mos. The English word morality comes from the same root, as does the noun moral, which can mean the 'core meaning of a story'. The symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet can be used to show pronounciation in English. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Morality refers to the concept of human ethics which pertains to matters of good and evil — also referred to as right or wrong — used within three contexts: individual conscience; systems of principles and judgments — sometimes called moral values —shared within a cultural, religious, secular or philosophical community; and codes of...

However, constant exposure to social mores is thought by some to lead to development of an individual moral core, which is pre-rational and consists of a set of inhibitions that cannot be easily characterized except as potential inhibitions against taking opportunities that the family or society does not consider desirable. These in turn cannot be easily separated from individual opinions or fears of getting caught. The moral core of an individual is the extent to which that person will apply his or her notions of morality. ...

Tocqueville claimed that democracy in America influenced mores properly, from a European perspective; mores became milder as conditions equalized. For other uses, see Tocqueville (disambiguation) Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville (b. ...

See also

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• Folkways (sociology)
• Enculturation
• Political and Moral Sociology: see Luc Boltanski and French Pragmatism