Cultural Norm Assessment

How supportive is your social/cultural environment? What cultural norms may be either enhancing or acting as barriers to your personal quest for wellness? Read the following lists of norms that enhance wellness and norms that are barriers to wellness. Place a check in the boxes following each item if they are true of your close friends and family, or of your local community in general.

Norms That Enhance Wellness

On the average, do your family and close friends, or local community, as a group, believe in and act upon the following recommended health-related behaviors?

1. Routinely look for enjoyment and pleasure in everyday events?
2. Strive for a balance between work, play, and rest?
3. Regularly use stress-management techniques such as relaxation, time management, humor, and exercise?
4. Ask for help in times of trouble, both at home and at work?
5. Express feelings openly, honestly, and lovingly?
6. Eat a nutritious low-fat diet that follows the food pyramid's daily recommendations, such as:
   • 1-2 serving of fish, poultry, meat, nuts, and eggs;
   • 4-6 servings of vegetables and beans;
   • 2-4 servings of fruit?
7. Read food labels to help select nutritious foods?
8. Strive to balance the amount of calories eaten with an appropriate amount of exercise, not just in youth but throughout life?
9. Exercise the recommended 30 minutes daily?
10. View exercise as "play" rather than work?
11. Seek to have loving, intimate relationships in life that offer care and support in both good times and bad?
12. Handle conflict constructively and nonviolently?
13. Keep firearms and ammunition locked up separately, or not own firearms at all?
14. Wear seat belts whenever driving or riding in an automobile, truck, or van?
15. Wear helmets when roller blading, or riding a bicycle or motorcycle?
16. Drink alcohol rarely or not at all?

Norms That Are Barriers to Wellness

On the average, do your family and close friends or local community, as a group, believe in or act upon the following health risk-related attitudes and behaviors?

1. Look at life with the attitude that one's cup is half empty rather than half full, or see stressors as problems rather than opportunities?
2. Focus the most time and attention on work, often at the expense of time and attention for family and close friends?
3. Regularly use alcohol, cigarettes, and other drugs as a way to cope with the stressors of everyday life?
4. View the world as "us" versus "them," such as Republicans versus Democrats, Black-Americans versus White-Americans, old people versus young people, or big business versus environmentalists?
5. Keep feelings bottled up inside?
6. Skip breakfast, or have a doughnut or sausage biscuit and coffee on the run?
7. Regularly eat high-fat desserts such as ice cream, cake, or cookies?
8. View overeating at meals as a "pleasure" or "treat."
9. Believe that becoming overweight is a natural part of aging?
10. Regularly watch sports on television, but rarely participate in exercise?
11. Try to solve problems by yelling at or hitting other people?
12. Drive a motor vehicle after drinking too much alcohol or taking other psychoactive drugs?
13. Believe that being a good party host means keeping everyone's glass filled with an alcoholic beverage?
14. View being able to drink large amounts of alcohol as an accomplishment?
15. Drive motor vehicles at speeds over the posted limit?
16. View aging as an unfortunate consequence of life?

Review your assessment of cultural norms. Do you have more supports or barriers for a life of high-level wellness? How can you make the most of your supports and minimize your barriers? What role could you play in improving cultural supports in your intimate support groups (family and friends) and in your local community?