APA Dictionary of Psychology

n. a traditional behavior, ritual, or action that is transmitted through the generations and is defined by a culture as appropriate or desirable for a particular situation. An example is the Chinese practice of maternal “confinement” or “doing-the-month” after childbirth, which involves formalized social support and recognition of the status of motherhood and has been presumed in anthropological literature to protect mothers of newborns from postpartum depression.