Culture Of Honor (Southern United States)
The prevailing culture of the Southern United States is said to be a "culture of honor", that is, a culture where people avoid intentional offense to others, and maintain a reputation for not accepting improper conduct by others.
One theory to explain why the American South has this culture is that a willingness to resort to retribution to enforce one's rights is important for a man in any region where gaining resources and keeping them depends on the community’s belief that the man can protect those resources against predators. Toughness is a strong value in such a culture because of its effect on the deterrence of such predators from one’s family, home and possessions.
The concept was tested by social scientists Richard Nisbett and Dov Cohen in their book Culture of Honor, and it was repopularized by a discussion in Chapter Six of Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.
Read more about Culture Of Honor (Southern United States): Background, Role of Women, Psychology, Sociology
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