The acquisition of a new social norm, the social conditioning, and the subjective role of structural and functional personality profile. Pilot study

Abstract

Introduction: Social norms represent the system of expectations of a community at a given point in time. Based on the education received and lived life experiences, everyone reacts to social norms with conformity or rebellion. Whether or not one adapts to a new social norm depends on many factors, which have been studied in the social-anthropological fi eld but not yet fully explored in scientifi c literature. Method: The clinical population sample (CG) that was selected for this pilot study consisted of 60 Italian participants (30 males; 30 females), aged 18 to 77 years (M: 47.5; SD: 17.0). Through a clinical interview and administration of the Perrotta Integrative Clinical Interviews, version TA-3 (PICI-TA-3), the included adult patients were analyzed, based on the experiment described in the protocol. A control group (Cg) with the same characteristics was constructed, in the absence of positive clinical data for a personality disorder identifi ed by the PICI-TA-3, for a total of 120 participants (60 males; 60 females). Results: In the clinical group (CG), subjects in the neurotic subgroup (pure anxious, phobic-obsessive and manic) responded to the acquisition of the new social rule within the third positive reinforcement stimulus, while subjects in the psychotic subgroup (paranoid-delusional, dissociated and schizophrenic spectrum) in some cases responded within the second stimulus while others hyperactivated and stopped the experiment; fi nally, subjects in the dramatic subgroup (depressive, bipolar, borderline, narcissistic-histrionic, antisocial-psychopathic) partly responded after the third stimulus or with attitudes of rebellion or contrariness, seeking clarifi cation, explanation, or resistance in the social group. Conclusions: The research data showed that the acquisition of a new social rule is conditioned by several subjective factors, including structural and functional personality profi les. Keywords: Social rule, acquisition of a new social rule, conformity, rebellion, society, personality disorders. Abbreviations/acronyms: Perrotta Integrative Clinical Interviews (PICI-C-3), Clinical group (CG), Control group (Cg).