Young children's creation and transmission of social norms

Abstract

Children's lives are governed by social norms. Since Piaget, however, it has been assumed that they understand very little about how norms work. Recent studies in which children enforce social norms indicate a richer understanding, but children are still relating to pre-existing adult norms. In this study, triads of 5-year-olds worked on an instrumental task without adult guidance. Children spontaneously created social norms regarding how the game “should” be played. They transmitted these with special force (using more generic and objective language) to novices, suggesting that young children understand to some degree, the conventional nature and special force of social norms in binding all who would participate.