Norms and behavior

Norms: Effects guides for social behavior

Norms for mastery and connectedness: Reciprocity and social commitment

The norm of obedience: Submitting to authority

Resisting, rejecting, and rebelling against norms

Putting it all together: Multiple guides for behavior

Activating norms to guide behavior

Norms must be activated before they can guide behavior. They can be activated by direct reminders, environmental cues, or observations of other people's behavior. When people see themselves purely in terms of group identity, their behavior is likely to be guided.

Direcht reminders of norms (the sign in the library "Quiet please", the reluctent child is instructed "Do as you're told!" etc.)

Environments activate norms (entering the church, step onto the platform at a train station, take a seat in an exclusive restaurant etc.)

Groups activate norms

Environmental cues can communicate the norms appropriate in that environment

The most powerful and frequent activator of norms is actually learning or seeing what other people do. How people behave tells us what the norm is.

Deindividuation

Deindividuation: The psychological state in which group or social identity completely dominates.
Your identity as a "fan" is way more important in that moment than your unique individual identity

Which norms guide behavior?

Both descriptive norms and injunctive norms influence behavior, and these norms may sometimes interact with each other in interesting ways. One type of information may be more important than another, depending on our motivation and ability ti think carefully.

Descriptive norms as guides for behavior

Injunctive norms as guides for behavior

The interplay of descriptive and injunctive norms

Why norms guide behavior so effectively