Three American norms that come up in day-to-day life are: not sitting close to a stranger in any sort of public seating, shaking hands when you are introduced to someone new, and saying "please" and "thank you". When someone around me breaks one of these norms, especially the first two, it makes me feel extremely awkward.
It is for that reason that I try not to break these norms. As someone who has social anxiety, my life basically revolves around adhering to norms. An experience that I had dealing with cultural norms was definitely the trip to Germany. One thing that stands out the most is that I was never allowed to help clear the dishes. I tried to a few times, and was answered with a stern request that I leave the dishes be. It was awkward because in my family and with other Americans, it is considered rude if you don't at least attempt to help clean up. Eventually, I stopped trying, but it still felt weird.
I think that norms do contribute to biases to an extent because we tend to look down on people who disobey the norms as a sort of savage because they behave differently than we do. It puts an idea in our minds before we even begin to meet the person.
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