Some norms go through long contested periods, resulting in norm change, rejection, or persisting conflict. Others are adopted quite quickly, with little resistance across diverse societies. An underlying and unanswered theoretical question is why? A foundational characteristic of a norm as a concept, and a key aspect of constructivist scholarship on norms, is the role of values and moral principles in giving norms meaning and in motivating global policy change. For a field placing significant emphasis on the importance of ideas, the limited theorizing around the value-based content of these ideas is a notable shortcoming. Emphasizing the importance of moral values as among the most deeply held beliefs, I outline a theory of how moral values and moral distance can help explain why certain normative processes and outcomes occur. Building from constructivist work on norms and social psychology scholarship on morality, I propose that moral distance, the degree of alignment, overlap, or separation in moral values between actors can help to explain the type of contestation, the intensity and duration of contestation, and what processes or outcomes are more likely to transpire. The shorter the moral distance, the more likely persuasion or adaptations will occur, leading to the eventual adoption of a norm. The greater the moral distance, the more likely prolonged and heated contestation will occur, leading to rejection or enduring contestation. I argue that centering the analysis of moral values and moral distance in research on normative agreement and disagreement can therefore contribute to understanding why or under what circumstances conflict is more or less likely to happen.

中文翻译：

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规范中有什么？学术道德价值观研究以规范互动为中心

一些规范经历了长期的争论，导致规范改变、拒绝或持续冲突。其他的很快就被采用了，在不同的社会中几乎没有阻力。一个潜在且未得到解答的理论问题是为什么？规范作为一个概念的一个基本特征，也是关于规范的建构主义学术研究的一个关键方面，是价值观和道德原则在赋予规范意义和推动全球政策变革中的作用。对于一个非常重视思想重要性的领域，围绕这些思想的基于价值的内容进行有限的理论化是一个显着的缺点。强调道德价值观作为最根深蒂固的信念之一的重要性，我概述了道德价值观和道德距离如何帮助解释为什么会发生某些规范过程和结果的理论。基于关于规范的建构主义工作和关于道德的社会心理学学术研究，我提出道德距离、行为者之间道德价值观的一致、重叠或分离程度有助于解释争论的类型、争论的强度和持续时间，以及哪些过程或结果更有可能发生。道德距离越短，说服或适应的可能性就越大，从而最终采用规范。道德距离越大，越有可能发生长期激烈的争论，导致拒绝或持久的争论。