normative
adj.describing how things should be according to a rule or standard, rather than just how they are in real life.
adj.relating to an ideal standard or model; based on what is considered correct or normal. Often used in social sciences to describe rules that guide behavior or evaluate actions.
“The teacher gave normative feedback on how to write a good essay.”
“Sociologists study normative behavior to understand how social pressure forces people to follow unwritten rules.”
“The debate shifted from a purely technical analysis of the economy to a normative discussion about what constitutes a fair distribution of wealth across the population.”
Often appears before nouns like 'pressure', 'influence', or 'framework'.
Learners often use the adjective 'normative' when they mean the noun 'norm' to refer to the rules themselves.
From Latin norma + -ative. Compare French normatif.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.