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shifting standards  

Definition

  • Definition Much of people's conversation about others includes descriptions such as “he's very tall” or “she's smart” or “he's really aggressive!” The concept of shifting standards refers to the idea that these descriptions are made with reference to some standard of judgment, and that this standard may shift depending on the person or object being described. How tall is tall? Presumably, standards of tallness—what qualifies as tall versus short—differ depending on whether a man or a woman (or a child) is being described. [Source: Encyclopedia of Social Psychology; Shifting Standards]

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https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/shifting_standards

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