Reciprocity
The expectation that favors will be returned in kind. A foundational social contract operating below conscious awareness.
Related: 003, 005Queue Discipline
The unwritten rule that arrival order determines service order. Violations provoke disproportionate social sanction.
Category: Public OrderGift Obligation
The social debt created by receiving a gift. The obligation is not merely to reciprocate but to reciprocate appropriately -- neither too little nor too much.
Related: 001Personal Space
The invisible boundary surrounding each person. Distance varies by culture: 45cm intimate, 120cm personal, 360cm social. Violation triggers immediate discomfort.
Category: ProxemicsTurn-Taking
The conversational protocol governing who speaks when. Interruption patterns reveal power dynamics. Silence duration tolerance varies by culture.
Related: 001, 006Eye Contact
The regulation of visual attention during interaction. Too much signals aggression or intimacy. Too little signals disinterest or deception. The acceptable range is culturally narrow.
Category: NonverbalTipping Custom
Voluntary payment above the stated price, varying from obligation to insult depending on geography. A norm in constant cultural renegotiation.
Category: EconomicTaboo Topics
Subjects excluded from casual conversation: money, death, politics, religion. The list varies by culture but the existence of a list is universal.
Category: DiscoursePunctuality
The moral weight assigned to temporal precision. Ranges from sacred obligation to flexible suggestion. Late arrival communicates different messages in different contexts.
Category: Temporal