Social Norms

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Social Norms

• September 7, 2006

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Class Objectives

• Define the concept of social norms.
• Address the following questions
• When do norms have the greatest influence on
  behavior?
• How and why are norms perceived and misperceived?

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What would happen if?

• You cut into the middle of a line by yourself and
  stayed in line for at least 2 minutes?
• You sang loudly on a public bus?
• You positioned yourself 6 inches from an
  acquaintances nose during a conversation?
• You laughed during a funeral?
• How would other people behave?
• How would you feel?

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(1) Norms

• Definition Group norms are the informal rules
  that groups adopt to regulate group members
  behavior.
• Sanctions exist to punish those who do not
  comply.
• We can identify norms when they are violated
• Wait for your turn.
• Remain quiet on the bus.
• Maintain interpersonal distance.
• Assume a somber demeanor during a funeral.
• How do norms form and what happens when these
  norms are broken?

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Early Evidence of Norms

• Sherif (1936) interested in the formation of
  group norms.
• Norm Individual and group judgments in an
  ambiguous situation.
• Autokinetic effect A stationary point of light
  appears to move in a dark room without any
  external frame of reference.
• Individuals first asked to estimate how far the
  light moved alone (100 times) and then again as a
  member of a group.

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Results (Individuals)

• Individuals established a personal norm that
  guided their judgments about how far the light
  was moving.
• Each individual had their own estimate of
  distance based on their personal experience.
• Question Would each individuals judgments
  become more similar when making estimates as a
  group?

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Results (In groups)

• The group formed a new estimate of how far the
  light was moving that was unique to the group and
  different from the judgment of each individual.
• Over time the group agreed on how far the light
  move despite the fact that the light never
  actually moved at all.

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Why do norms exist?

• Norms ensure the survival of the group.
• Do you agree with this statement?
• Are all norms useful?
• Can you think of norms that persist despite the
  fact that they are dysfunctional?
• Tautological reasoning The norms exist because
  they work and we know they work or else they
  wouldnt exist!

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(2) When Do Norms Influence Behavior?

• Do norms ACTUALLY influence behavior?
• Study of Littering Behavior
• Injunctive norm People should litter or they
  should not litter.
• Descriptive norm The parking garage is littered
  or it is not littered.
• Norm Salience (Study 1)
• Confederate carried a large handbill and threw it
  on the ground.

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Two Important Predictions

• Prediction 1
• Subjects who saw the confederate litter into the
  fully littered environment would litter more than
  those who did not see such littering.
• Prediction 2
• Subjects who saw the confederate litter into the
  clean environment would be less likely to litter
  than those who did not see such littering.
• Key Point Contrary to conformity prediction.

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Results

• Confederate threw the handbill into the littered
  environment, thus calling attention to the
  descriptive norm
• IT IS OK TO LITTER HERE!
• When littering norm was salient
• 54 of the subjects actually littered.
• When littering norm was not salient
• Only 32 of the subjects of the subjects
  littered.

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Results (continued)

• Confederate threw the handbill into the clean
  environment, thus calling attention to the
  descriptive norm
• IT IS NOT OK TO LITTER HERE!
• When anti-littering norm was salient
• Only 6 of the subjects littered.
• When anti-littering norm was not salient
• 14 of the subjects littered.

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More Littering Into Clean Environment
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Implications

• Norms can often be very subtle.
• Are you always aware the you are following a
  norm? Are there situations in which you are more
  aware than others? (E.g. Picnic vs. Funeral)
• Norms have a powerful influence on behavior when
  people are focused on the norms in a given
  situation.
• What are different strategies for calling
  attention to a norm? (E.g. Shoes in someones
  entry hall during a party).

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How are norms perceived and are these perceptions
accurate?

• Gambling in Elm Hollow (Shank, 1932)
• Members of the community nearly unanimous in
  their support of the churchs restrictions on
  gambling, smoking and drinking.
• Yet, the author often gambled, drank and smoked
  in the privacy of peoples homes.
• Private attitudes did not reflect the public
  norm.

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Pluralistic Ignorance

• Definition Individuals make systematic errors
  in their perceptions of the other members of a
  collective and their relation to those members.
• In other words,
• No one believes, but everyone thinks that
  everyone else believes.

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Pluralistic Ignorance at ILR

• Are there any widely shared beliefs at ILR that
  might reflect pluralistic ignorance?
• How would you know?

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Consequences of Pluralistic Ignorance

• Mistaken feelings of alienation and deviance.
• Gamblers felt estranged from the town without
  knowing that they were actually typical.
• Students who felt deviant because of their views
  on alcohol were less likely to attend their
  college reunion.
• Male students conformed to the misperceived norm
  by drinking more.

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Individual versus the Group

• The group has a reality above and beyond the
  individuals that compose it.
• A college campus can be more pro-alcohol than its
  students.
• Two campuses can differ on their attitudes toward
  alcohol even if their students do not.
• Norms on campus can change even if the attitudes
  of its students have not.

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Before you go

• Complete brief survey about social issues for
  class on Tuesday.