The purpose of this chapter is to understand the nature of normative expectations; to observe how they differ from, and how they interact with, other elements in our moral life; and to consider their expression in narratives of medical moral leadership.

The concept of normative expectations, and the associated concept of reactive attitudes, were both introduced for the first time in Chapter 2. Normative expectations reflect our understanding of the responsibilities that we each owe to one another, and our views on how these responsibilities ought to be discharged. Normative expectations give rise to a keen sense that we ‘have a right’ to demand certain actions of others. Normative expectations are also frequently accompanied by strongly felt ‘reactive attitudes’ of anger, outrage, resentment, disgust, dismay and the like. These emotions arise when we perceive that we have been let down, particularly when we have been let down in relation to something to which we felt entitled.