ethos

Short definition from Wiktionary

Noun

1. 1
   The character or fundamental values of a person, people, culture, or movement.
2. 2
   A form of rhetoric in which the writer or speaker invokes their authority, competence or expertise in an attempt to persuade others that their view is correct.
3. 3
   The traits in a work of art which express the ideal or typic character, as influenced by the ethos (character or fundamental values) of a people, rather than emotional situations or individual character traits in a narrow sense; opposed to pathos.