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Culture of Honor

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

Synonyms

Adaptive function of aggression; Aggression

Definition

Honor is self-worth based on an individual’s (usually a man’s) reputation and also his own assessment of what others think. Cultures of honor are those placing a high emphasis on the importance of a man as willing and able to violently, and sometimes lethally, retaliate against anyone who insults his honor, family, or values.

Introduction

The American historian Wyatt-Brown coined the term “Southern Honor” to describe the culture of White, non-Hispanic men in Southern states of the United States. Masculine honor acquired a particular importance for such individuals as they were confronted with weak law enforcement that did not provide sufficient protection of their property or family. Therefore, masculine honor, according to this account, was born of Southern White men’s need for security and protection. It was achieved and perpetuated by creating a reputation for being tough and being willing to use violence to defend...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Mohammad Atari

Authors
  1. Mohammad Atari
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammad Atari .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Psychology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    John F. Rauthmann

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Atari, M. (2018). Culture of Honor. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_650-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_650-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

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