Social Norms: Do We Love Norms Too Much?

Abstract

Social norms are often cited as the cause of many social phenomena, especially as an explanation for prosocial family and relationship behaviors. And yet maybe we love the idea of social norms too much, as suggested by our failure to subject them to rigorous test. Compared to the detail in social norms theoretical orientations, there is very little detail in tests of normative theories. To provide guidance to researchers who invoke social norms as explanations, we catalog normative orientations that have been proposed to account for consistent patterns of action. We call on researchers to conduct tests of normative theories and the processes such theories assert.

Reasons People Give for Using (or Not Using) Condoms

“…Unfortunately, it is expensive and condoms are cheaper and more available (5). Another limitation of PrEP is that it is not effective for other diseases besides HIV, so that most recommendations continue to suggest using condoms along with the program (3, 6, 7). …”

“…Its primary drawback at this time is that it costs about $1200 per month when used in this way, although many insurance companies will help cover some of the cost (5). It is less effective than properly used condoms and provides no protection from other STDs, because of this many doctors suggest to still use condoms in conjunction with the medicine (3, 6, 7). Furthermore, the expense of PrEP makes it infeasible for the general population even for low income persons in serodiscordant relationships.…”

“…Thus condoms remain an important resource to reduce the transmission of HIV and other STDs. While risk behaviors have been reduced since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic (6, 7), nevertheless the continuing high incidence of sexually transmitted infections is evidence of inconsistent condom use. The tendency for people to use condoms inconsistently or not at all is a significant problem for public health.…”

Comparisons inform me who I am: A general comparative processing model of self-perception

“…Another relevant distinction is that rules or norms can either be perceived as one's own or as valued by important others' views of ourselves (Higgins, 1996). Altogether, a distinction of perceived norms can be made between a) descriptive norms (i.e., socially shared norms about what others do), b) subjective norms (i.e., believes what important others expect one to do or be), c) and injunctive norms (i.e., believes of what is commonly approved or disapproved by others) (Bell & Cox, 2015;Schultz, Nolan, Cialdini, Goldstein, & Griskevicius, 2007). All these norms may relate to the ideal expectations, realistic expectations, and ought selves.…”

Using social norms theory for health promotion in low-income countries

“…In this paper, we adopt theory and terminology developed by him and his colleagues, who identified two distinct types of social norms: (i) beliefs about what others do (descriptive norms) and (ii) beliefs about what others approve and disapprove (injunctive norms) (Cialdini et al, 1990;Cialdini and Trost, 1998;Cialdini et al, 2006). People tend to comply with descriptive and injunctive norms for a variety of reasons (Bell and Cox, 2015), the most well studied being the anticipation of social rewards and punishments for compliance and noncompliance, respectively (Bicchieri, 2006;Elster, 2007). Even though empirical findings in the health sciences have offered ground-breaking contributions to our understanding of the influence of social norms on a wide range of health outcomes (e.g.…”