Goals, norms, attitudes, and self-efficacy as predictors of academic dishonesty: Two-wave prospective inquiries into additive and multiplicative effects

Alcohol evaluations and acceptability: Examining descriptive and injunctive norms among heavy drinkers

The role of social norms has played an often unrecognized role in the perception of and action to assist low-income urban women who are in violent relationships. Two forms of social norms will be assessed, including descriptive norms--what people typically do to assist women in a violent relationship--and injunctive norms--defined as what people should do to assist women. This study will present our initial findings into the development of measures to assess women's perception of their community's social norms toward assisting women who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) and how these norms are related to women's perception of the community, reasons for community assistance toward women experiencing IPV, and women's own experience of IPV. Systematic measurement development processes were applied to reliably and validly develop the social norms measures. A three-phase approach was used to develop eight paired items measuring descriptive and injunctive norms. A total of 176 low-income urban women were interviewed and the scale responses were compared to length of time at the residence, perceptions of their neighborhood, perceived reasons for community involvement and non-involvement in assisting women experiencing IPV, and IPV experienced as an adult. The two developed social norms scales were found to have high internal consistency alpha coefficients of 0.84 for descriptive norms and 0.93 for injunctive norms. Paired t tests were statistically significant, denoting higher injunctive than descriptive social norms. Lowered descriptive norms were found among younger women, women who reported that they did not think their neighborhood was a good place to live, women who had ever experienced intimate partner violence as an adult, and perceived lower reasons for neighbor involvement and higher reasons for neighbor non-involvement toward assisting women experiencing IPV. Higher levels of injunctive social norms were statistically associated with living in a good place and increased perceived reasons for neighbor involvement toward assisting women experiencing IPV. Significant differences between descriptive and injunctive norms suggest that women, especially those who are currently experiencing IPV, would prefer greater support from community neighbors than they are currently providing. The descriptive and injunctive social norms scales demonstrated a high level of internal reliability and significantly associated with other influencing factors thought to be associated with social norms. Overall, the performance of the injunctive and descriptive norms scales support their use as a tool to investigate social norms toward neighbors taking action to assist women experiencing IPV.

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Group Norms and the Attitude–Behaviour Relationship

Academic dishonesty is a common problem at universities around the world, leading to undesirable consequences for both students and the education system. To effectively address this problem, it is necessary to identify specific predispositions that promote cheating. In Polish undergraduate students (N = 390), we examined the role of psychopathy, achievement goals, and self-efficacy as predictors of academic dishonesty. We found that the disinhibition aspect of psychopathy and mastery-goal orientation predicted the frequency of students’ academic dishonesty and mastery-goal orientation mediated the relationship between the disinhibition and meanness aspects of psychopathy and dishonesty. Furthermore, general self-efficacy moderated the indirect effect of disinhibition on academic dishonesty through mastery-goal orientation. The practical implications of the study include the identification of risk factors and potential mechanisms leading to students’ dishonest behavior that can be used to plan personalized interventions to prevent or deal with academic dishonesty.

“I'll eat meat because that's what we do”: The role of national norms and national social identification on meat eating

Congruent or conflicted? The impact of injunctive and descriptive norms on environmental intentions

We propose and test several hypotheses derived from the expanded theory of normative social behavior (TNSB) that also includes collective norms (with descriptive and injunctive norms). Data come from a quasi-experiment intervention to promote safer driving among adolescents in Serbia. The intervention was administered among high school students, most of whom were on the verge of receiving their driver’s licenses. Longitudinal data were collected from treatment and control schools at baseline (N = 1,449) and four months later at end line (N = 1,072). Descriptive norms at baseline predicted six-month changes in safer-driving intentions among women (β = .010 p < .05) but not among men. Main-effects of injunctive and collective norms were not significant. However, a significant interaction between descriptive norms and collective norms emerged among men (though not among women) and injunctive norms interacted with both collective norms and descriptive norms among women (but not among men). Initial evidence adds credence to the idea of enhancing the TNSB by adding both injunctive and collective (together with descriptive) norms as drivers of behaviors.

Past research on the social identity approach to attitude-behaviour relations has operationalized group norms as a mixture of both descriptive information (i.e. what most people do themselves) and injunctive information (i.e. what most people approve of). Two experiments (Study 1=185 participants; Study 2=238 participants) were conducted to tease apart the relative effects of descriptive and injunctive group norms. In both studies, university students' attitudes towards current campus issues were obtained, the descriptive and injunctive group norms were manipulated, and participants' post-manipulation attitudes, behavioural willingness, and behaviour were assessed. Study 2 also examined the role of norm source (i.e. in-group vs. out-group injunctive and descriptive norms). In both studies, the injunctive and descriptive in-group norms interacted significantly to influence attitudes, behavioural willingness, and behaviour. Study 2 revealed that out-group norms were largely ineffective. The research illustrates that in-groups interactively influence decisions, not only by what they say, but also by what they do, and asserts the value of considering the interaction of descriptive and injunctive norms in accounts of normative influence.

BackgroundCondoms are an important prevention method in the transmission of HIV and sexually transmitted infections as well as unintended pregnancy. Individual-level factors associated with condom use include family support and connection, strong relationships with teachers and other students, discussions about sexuality with friends and peers, higher perceived economic status, and higher levels of education. Little, however, is known about the influence of social norms on condom use among young men in Ethiopia. This study examines the effect of descriptive and injunctive norms on condoms use at last sex using the theory of normative social behavior.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was implemented with 15-24 year old male youth in five Ethiopian regions in 2016. The analytic sample was limited to sexually active single young men (n = 260). Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were conducted. An interaction term was included in the multivariate model to assess whether injunctive norms moderate the relationship between descriptive norms and condom use.ResultsThe descriptive norm of knowing a friend who had ever used condoms significantly increased respondents’ likelihood of using condoms at last sex. The injunctive norm of being worried about what people would think if they learned that the respondent needed condoms significantly decreased their likelihood to use condoms. The injunctive norm did not moderate the relationship between descriptive norms and condom use. Young men who lived closer to a youth friendly service (YFS) site were significantly more likely to have used condoms at last sex compared to those who lived further away from a YFS site.ConclusionsSocial norms play an important role in decision-making to use condoms among single young men in Ethiopia. The interplay between injunctive and descriptive norms is less straightforward and likely varies by individual. Interventions need to focus on shifting community-level norms to be more accepting of sexually active, single young men’s use of condoms and need to be a part of a larger effort to delay sexual debut, decrease sexual violence, and increase gender equity in relationships.

BackgroundIndividual achievement goals are influenced by the learning context, such as the classroom. In this social space, social norms emerge and shape motivation and behaviour. Classroom goal structures reflect injunctive norms (what is considered acceptable) and influence individual achievement goals. The role that descriptive norms (what others typically do or think) play in individual achievement goals is unclear. We propose that peer achievement goals reflect descriptive norms and additionally influence individual achievement goals.AimsWe aim to better understand contextual influences on individual student motivation by applying a social norms framework to study changes in individual achievement goals and acknowledge the role of peers.Sample and MethodsWe used longitudinal data from 4189 students from 169 classes at two time points after the transition to secondary school.ResultsWe calculated multilevel models to predict changes in individual mastery‐, performance‐approach, and performance‐avoidance goals. As Level‐2 predictors, class‐level classroom goal structures represented injunctive norms, while peer achievement goals represented descriptive norms. Individual achievement goals and individual‐level classroom goal structures were added on Level 1. Class‐level classroom goal structures related to changes in individual achievement goals only if peer achievement goals were not added. If added on the classroom level, peer achievement goals remained as a single Level‐2 predictor of changes in individual achievement goals.ConclusionWe demonstrated the key role that descriptive norms (reflected by peer achievement goals) play in individual achievement goals. The role of injunctive norms needs to be investigated further to enhance our understanding of how social norms shape individual student motivation.

Affixing the theory of normative conduct (to your mailbox): Injunctive and descriptive norms as predictors of anti-ads sticker use

Supplementing Gelfand and Harrington’s exclusive focus on descriptive norms, we speculate how cultural lay beliefs may play a role to reconcile the discrepancy between descriptive and injunctive norms. For example, although violation of traffic laws and bribery are socially condemned, they are prevalent in China. Because of the differential beliefs in individual agency versus collective agency, the discrepancy between descriptive and injunctive norms could have different meanings, thereby eliciting different dissonance in collectivist (interdependent) and individualist (independent) cultures. Keywords cultural psychology, descriptive norm, injunctive norm, belief, agencyGelfand and Harrington (in press) define descriptive norms as personal cognitions concerning the dominant beliefs, values, and behaviors of a particular reference group, and discussed how dif-ferent motivational factors may mediate the cross-cultural differences in compliance to the descriptive norms. Although Gelfand and Harrington do not explicitly differentiate descriptive norms (what

Who conserves and who approves? Predicting water conservation intentions in urban landscapes with referent groups beyond the traditional ‘important others’

Consumers face marketing messages using social norms in many situations where different goals are dominant. This research examines moderating effects of regulatory focus for descriptive and injunctive norms in the promotion of sustainable products. More specifically, it shows that descriptive norms have a better fit with a promotion than prevention focus, while this is not the case for injunctive norms. Three experiments examine consequences for perceived message fluency, attitudes, and behavioral intentions. Experiment 1 investigates regulatory focus when induced before a normative message, whereas Experiments 2 and 3 investigate regulatory elements ingrained in the message itself. Results show that messages with descriptive norms are perceived as more fluent and have a stronger impact on attitudes and intentions when promotion goals are salient than when prevention goals are salient. Unlike descriptive norms, injunctive norms are not affected by regulatory focus. Marketers using descriptive norms should develop message wording and context accordingly.

Prior research among adolescents has identified injunctive and descriptive norms as predictors of marijuana use. Yet, there is no consensus on which norm (i.e., injunctive or descriptive) or referent group (e.g., parents, peers, closest friend) is most consistently related to adolescent marijuana use. The objective of this review is to synthesize literature on perceived social norms and adolescent marijuana use and to identify the referents most commonly studied in relation to adolescent marijuana use. A systematic review, following PRISMA guidelines, assessed studies published from 1998 to 2018 that reported the impact of adolescents' perceived injunctive norms and descriptive norms on self-reported marijuana use. Seventeen peer-reviewed English-language studies met inclusion criteria. Across cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, injunctive norms and descriptive norms significantly predicted adolescent marijuana use. Peer norms were the most commonly measured descriptive norm and were found to be most positively related to marijuana use. Parental norms were the most measured injunctive norm and were also positively related to use. Injunctive norms and descriptive norms are key factors in considering adolescent marijuana use, although peer descriptive norms may be most influential. The lack of systematic definition and measurement of marijuana use, norms, and referents was apparent in the literature. Future research should systemize norm constructs and explore differences in the norm-marijuana use relationship among adolescents with intersecting identities (e.g., gender, race) and social network referents (e.g., family, peer groups).