Descriptive Norms Research Articles

Factors associated with susceptibility to e-cigarette use among Australian adolescents

BackgroundPreventing uptake of e-cigarette use among adolescents is critical to minimizing vaping-related harms. To inform the development of effective prevention programs and policies, this study explored potential determinants of susceptibility to e-cigarette use among young Australians. MethodsA cross-sectional online survey was administered to 12- to 17-year-old Australians who had never smoked nor vaped (N = 973; 53 % women). The survey assessed susceptibility to e-cigarette use (curiosity about use, willingness to use, and intentions to use) and a comprehensive range of potential correlates that included individual, social, and environmental factors. Regression analyses were conducted to identify factors significantly correlated with each of the dependent variables. ResultsSusceptibility to e-cigarette use was observed in 45 % of respondents. Individual factors associated with susceptibility included respondents’ (i) overall opinion of e-cigarettes, (ii) attitudes toward e-cigarettes, (iii) affect regulation expectancies, and (iv) quitting perceptions. Significant social factors included both descriptive and injunctive norms, specifically: perceiving that use is ok for people of one's age, approval from important others to use, and having at least one family member or close friend who vapes. ConclusionSusceptibility to vaping was observed in a substantial proportion of adolescents who have never smoked. Shifting attitudes and social norms around e-cigarette use appears critical to reducing susceptibility. Recommended prevention efforts include the development of communications addressing misperceptions about the benefits of vaping on affect regulation and stricter regulations on e-cigarette advertising to reduce young Australians’ exposure to claims that may result in favourable attitudes to e-cigarette use.

Exploring why girls don’t cycle to school: Student and parent/guardian focus group findings on barriers to cycling

Increasing active travel by 2030 is one of Ireland’s important objectives in achieving its 2030 emissions reduction targets. Therefore, encouraging cycling at a young age is important. Irish Census data indicates a gender difference in cycling to school rates exists among primary school pupils and widens as children progress to secondary school. If active travel habits are formed among students, there is a likelihood that they will continue among individuals into adulthood. To design strategies to promote the uptake of cycling, especially to girls, the explanatory factors for not cycling must be understood. This study builds on previous work by the authors and uses qualitative methods to explore barriers to cycling to school. Focus groups of students and separately parents/guardians were conducted. The results are categorized under the main components of the Theory of Planned Behavior and show that subjective norms, particularly the descriptive norms of peers are significant explanatory factors affecting cycling to school behavior. The, mostly negative, attitudes toward cycling to school and their perceived behavioral controls, such as uniforms and bags, also strongly discourage cycling among girls. Almost all factors affected girls more than boys.

The effect of descriptive norms on exercise output and exertion during a video-guided workout.

The effect of descriptive norms on exercise output and exertion during a video-guided workout.

Psychological Factors Influencing College Students’ Mobile Phone Use While Walking

The likelihood of pedestrians exhibiting aberrant walking behaviors and being involved in traffic collisions increases substantially if they are distracted while walking because of using their mobile phones. To reduce the frequency with which pedestrians use their phones while walking, a detailed analysis of the elements that influence this behavior is required. This research studied people’s behavior and behavioral intentions to use mobile phones while walking, using an expanded version of the theory of planned behavior. Four hundred sixty-three college students completed an online survey that assessed attitudes and behaviors related to mobile phone use. The results showed that attitude, perceived behavioral control, mobile phone addiction, crash history, and prototype similarity significantly affected behavioral intentions, whereas subjective norms, descriptive norms, perceived risk, and prototype favorability did not. In addition, behavioral intentions, perceived behavioral control, mobile phone addiction, and crash history had significant impacts on behavior, whereas perceived risk did not. The results from this study could be utilized to develop interventions to reduce the frequency with which college students use their mobile phones while walking, which is essential for improving road safety.

Breaking the endometriosis silence: a social norm approach to reducing menstrual stigma and policy resistance among young adults

Objective Endometriosis is a menstrual disorder that affects one in ten women. Diagnosis often takes several years due to low awareness and menstrual stigma. In this study, we employed a social norm approach (SNA) to investigate the effects of an educational leaflet on endometriosis knowledge, menstrual stigma, and acceptance of paid menstrual leave among women and men. Methods The 3 × 2 online experiment tested the influence of either descriptive norm messages or both descriptive and injunctive norm messages (compared to a control group, factor 1) in an educational leaflet by taking the role of addressee’s sex into account (quasi-experimental factor 2). The study included 796 German participants aged 16–35. Results Men exhibited significantly poorer knowledge, stronger menstrual stigma, and weaker policy acceptance compared to women. No significant main effect of the social norm messages on menstrual stigma was found. In contrast, the combined norm messages seem to be beneficial when addressing policy acceptance. Moreover, compared to the control group, the intervention material indirectly influenced stigma and policy acceptance through increased knowledge. Conclusions Providing information about social norms appears to be an effective strategy for educating not only women but especially men about menstrual disorders like endometriosis.

Complying with COVID‐19 policy: The role of citizenship norms for young people's compliance with Sweden's voluntary COVID‐19 recommendations

AbstractSweden's COVID‐19 policy was characterized by reliance on voluntary compliance. Citizens were expected to act responsibly. Previous research has not focused on the role of citizenship norms (duty‐based, engaged, and critical) in the COVID‐19 crisis. This is an important omission, since citizenship norms are expected to raise social responsibility and trigger prosocial behavior. This article asks how important citizenship norms are for explaining voluntary COVID‐19 policy compliance. Additionally, it considers perceptions of how other people comply, individual background factors, and interpersonal and institutional trust. The study focuses on Swedish high school youth, a group reported to comply less with voluntary COVID‐19 measures. Using survey data (N = 1823), we find higher reported voluntary compliance by high school youth who adhere more strongly to the duty‐based citizenship norm. Importantly, believing that other people follow the COVID‐19 recommendations is strongly associated with following them. Thus, next to citizenship norms, “descriptive norms” (i.e., what other people are doing) are central for individuals to decide how they will comply. We further find that differences in worry about the pandemic and socioeconomic background factors (migration background and economic situation of the household) explain variation in compliance. Institutional and interpersonal trust play a less important role. These findings challenge the strong focus on trust in previous research. Our findings have implications for research on policy compliance in the context of crisis, and for public policy.

Assessing Survey Items on Social Norms Relating to Dating and Relationship Violence and to Gender: Cognitive Interviews with Young People in England.

Widespread among adolescents in England, dating and relationship violence (DRV) is associated with subsequent injuries and serious mental health problems. While DRV prevention interventions often aim to shift harmful social norms, no established measures exist to assess relevant norms and their role in mediating DRV outcomes. We conducted cognitive interviews exploring the understandability and answerability of candidate measures of social norms relating to DRV and gender roles, informing measure refinement. In all, 11 participants aged 13 to 15 from one school in England participated. Cognitive interviews tested two items assessing descriptive norms (beliefs about what behaviors are typical), three assessing injunctive norms (beliefs about what is socially acceptable), and (for comparison) one assessing personal attitudes. Findings were summarized by drawing on interview notes. Summaries and interview notes were subjected to thematic analysis. For some participants, injunctive norms items required further explanation to clarify that items asked about others' views, not their own. Lack of certainty about, and perceived heterogeneity of, behaviors and views among a broad reference group detracted from answerability. Participants were better able to answer items for which they could draw on concrete experiences of observing or discussing relevant behaviors or social sanctions. Data suggest that a narrowed reference group could improve answerability for items assessing salient norms. Findings informed refinements to social norms measures. It is possible to develop social norms measures that are understandable and answerable for adolescents in England. Measures should assess norms that are salient and publicly manifest among a cohesive and influential reference group.

When enough is not enough: behavioral and motivational paths to compulsive social media consumption

PurposeCompulsive social media use has the potential to reduce well-being. In this study, the authors propose that there are two main paths to compulsive social media consumption. One is behavioral and based on habit; the other is motivational and rooted in the fear of missing out. This study aims to test the antecedents of these two drivers as well as their consequences for the tendency to engage in compulsive social media consumption.Design/methodology/approachThe authors applied a quantitative research design and collected data through a survey of 600 respondents from a representative sample. The authors used structural equation modeling to test their conceptual model and hypotheses. Gender and age were included as moderators to investigate the model’s boundary conditions.FindingsThe authors found support for all the suggested relationships in the conceptual model. The findings indicate two main manifestations of compulsive social media use – always being logged in (i.e. the frequency of social media consumption) and excessive use (the intensity of consumption) – that in turn spurred a reinforcer of compulsivity: disconnection anxiety. The findings also indicate two main paths to compulsive social media consumption. One path is behavioral, based on habit, and the other is motivational, based on fear of missing out. Moreover, the authors identified the key antecedents of both paths. Habit formation was observed to be a function of situational cues (technological nudges in the online sphere) and consumer engagement. Fear of missing out was shaped by both injunctive norms (a consumer norm to be online) and descriptive norms (social proof).Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the antecedents of compulsive social media consumption suggested in this study have a strong and significant effect, the explained variance in the dependent variables being always logged in and excessive social media use indicates that there might be other drivers as well. These should be explored along with moderators other than gender and age to identify the potential boundary conditions of the model.Practical implicationsThe main implications of the present work point to the “ease” with which typical or normal social media use may spiral out of control and become compulsive, with adverse implications for consumer health and well-being.Originality/valueThe behavioral and motivational paths to compulsive social media consumption have been less explored and have not yet been studied in conjunction, nor have their antecedents and consequences. Thus, this is a novel approach to understanding how social media use can potentially lead to reduced control and well-being.

The effects of descriptive and injunctive social norms on workplace incivility

AbstractThis research examines workplace incivility through the lens of the focus theory of normative conduct, demonstrating effects of descriptive and injunctive norms on incivility perpetration. Using an experimental vignette methodology, Study 1 demonstrated that incivility intentions toward an insulting colleague were higher when organizational incivility (vs. civility) was described as both common (descriptive norm) and approved (injunctive norm). Study 2 disentangled the influences of descriptive from injunctive norms, demonstrating that each exerts an independent effect on incivility intentions. In Study 3, workers' perceptions of the descriptive and injunctive norms for incivility at their organizations predicted their uncivil intentions toward an insulting colleague—beyond the effects of other established workplace mistreatment predictors. Study 4 replicated these findings in predicting uncivil behavior frequency; additionally, job satisfaction accentuated the effects of both norm types and organizational identification amplified the effects of injunctive norms. Overall, results support key tenets of the focus theory of normative conduct, provide novel evidence for individual difference moderators of the norms' effects, and suggest that norm‐based persuasive messaging interventions may hold promise for discouraging workplace incivility.

The relationships between parental and peer norms and moderate drinking among first-year college students: similarities and differences in typical and celebration drinking

ABSTRACT The study explored how perceived parental and peer norms toward moderate drinking can be related to first-year college students’ drinking behavior across two occasions: typical days and celebrations. First-year college students were recruited to participate in an online survey (n = 127). For typical drinking, perceived peer descriptive norms during celebration showed a statistically significant relationship. Both perceived peer descriptive and injunctive norms were statistically associated with typical and celebratory drinking by first-year students. Unlike the predictions, perceived parental norms regarding moderate drinking were not associated with alcohol consumption across two occasions. The results emphasize the subtle impact of various social contexts and reference groups on the drinking habits of the first years.

Psychosocial determinants associated with healthcare workers’ self-reported compliance with infection prevention and control during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study in Dutch residential care facilities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities

BackgroundHealthcare workers’ (HCWs) compliance with infection prevention and control (IPC) is crucial to reduce the infection transmission risk. However, HCWs’ compliance with IPC in residential care facilities (RCFs) for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) is known to be suboptimal. Therefore, this study examined sociodemographic and psychosocial determinants associated with IPC non-compliance in this setting, to inform IPC policy and promotion programmes for adequate IPC behaviour.MethodsAn online questionnaire was administered to 285 HCWs from 16 RCFs between March 2021 and March 2022. Determinants associated with IPC non-compliance were assessed using logistic regression analyses.ResultsBeing a woman (OR: 3.57; 1.73–7.37), and being a non-medical professional were associated with increased odds of non-compliance (social workers, OR: 2.83; 1.65–4.85; behavioural specialists, OR: 6.09; 1.98–18.72). Perceived inadequate education/training (aOR: 1.62; 1.15–2.27) and perceived time constraints/competing priorities (aOR: 1.43; 1.03–1.98) were also associated with increased odds of non-compliance, independent of sociodemographic variables. In contrast, the belief that the supervisor complies with IPC (descriptive norm supervisor) was associated with decreased odds of non-compliance (aOR: 0.60; 0.41–0.88).ConclusionsTo improve IPC in disability care settings, the implementation of tailored and structural IPC education and training programmes (e.g., on-the-job training) is recommended to increase HCWs’ capabilities and bridge the IPC compliance gap between medical and non-medical professionals. In addition, role models, particularly supervisors, are crucial for promoting IPC behaviour. Facilities should create a culture of IPC compliance by norm setting, acting on, and modelling IPC behaviours at all levels of the organisation (management, medical, and non-medical staff).

Promoting Low-Carbon Purchase from Social Norms Perspective.

The importance of individual consumption behavior in a low-carbon economy is gradually recognized. Social norms have a significant effect on individual purchase behavior. However, the influence mechanism of social norms still needs more research. We conducted two behavioral experiments to explore the specific factors: first, the effect of descriptive norms on personal low-carbon consumption behavior through feedback information, and second, a comparison with injunctive norms, focusing on the impact of the normative focus shift brought by punishment represented by the policy implementation. The results show that social norms can effectively promote individual low-carbon consumption through feedback and high policy implementation efficiency. In particular, after effective policy implementation becomes an inherent element of injunctive norms, injunctive norms are activated and become the focus of norms, significantly improving the purchase rate of low-carbon goods.

Freshmen’s intention to engage in faculty mentoring: applying the theory of planned behavior

ABSTRACT While faculty to freshmen mentoring (FFM) has been shown to benefit freshmen, not all of them wish to engage in such a program when entering higher education. This questionnaire survey (N = 551) built on the theory of planned behavior to investigate the determinants of freshmen’s intention to engage in a large-scale FFM program called POLLEM. Results showed that general factors were at work, as well as factors specific to mentoring and to FFM in particular. They revealed that freshmen’s experiential attitude, descriptive norm, injunctive norm and perceived ability matter and highlighted key underlying beliefs (e.g. mentoring boosts self-esteem, shyness impedes engagement) as playing a major role. This study therefore confirmed the relevance of the TPB for understanding/studying the decision to engage in mentoring and for designing interventions likely to boost it.

The Effect of Social Networks on Active Living in Adolescents: Qualitative Focus Group Study.

Participation in organized sports and other forms of active living have important health benefits in adolescence and adulthood. Unfortunately, the transition to secondary school has been shown to be a barrier to participation. Social networks can play important roles in activating adolescents, and information and communication technology (ICT) interventions can augment this role. To date, there are few insights into what adolescents themselves think and feel about barriers to and motivators for active living, the role of their social networks in active living, and the potential of ICT for physical activity (PA). This study aimed to gather insights into the perspectives of adolescents aged 12 to 14 years on active living and sports participation, motivators and demotivators for active living, and the potential roles of their social network and of ICT. A total of 26 adolescents aged 12 to 14 years from different levels of Dutch secondary schools participated in 1 of 5 semistructured focus group interviews, in which they talked about sports and PA, their social networks, their ICT use, and the role of social networks and ICT in PA. All interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a thematic qualitative approach. The study showed that all participants were physically active, although the transition to secondary school made this difficult, mostly because of time constraints. Participants saw positive physical and mental health effects as important benefits of active living. They regarded social benefits as strong motivators for active living: being together, making friends, and having fun together. However, the social network could also demotivate through negative peer judgment and negative feedback. Participants were willing to share their own positive experiences and hear about those from close peers and friends but would not share their own (and were not interested in others') negative experiences or personal information. Participants were mainly interested in descriptive norms set by others and obtained inspiration from others for PA. With respect to using ICT for active living, participants stated a preference for social challenges among friends, personalized feedback, goals, activities, and rewards. Competition was seen as less important or even unattractive. If mentioned, participants felt that this should be with friends, or peers of a similar level, with fun being more important than the competition itself. This study shows that adolescents feel that their social network is and can be a strong driver of active living. They are willing to use ICT-based solutions that make use of social networks for PA as long as these solutions involve their current (close) network and use an approach based on being together and having fun together.

I’ll have what they’re having: a descriptive social norm increases choice for vegetables in students

ABSTRACT Social information, such as norms, influences behavior. Descriptive norms can be used to guide behavior toward healthier choices. Here, we examined the effect of a descriptive norm on the choice between two similar products (vegetables or fruits). Participants were exposed to a norm promoting vegetables, fruits, or no norm in a remote confederate design. A descriptive norm signaling that a greater proportion of previous participants had chosen a vegetable over a fruit basket tripled the odds of participants choosing vegetables. We found no to small effects of norms on intentions to consume fruits and vegetables or on taste expectations and experiences in a taste test. These findings suggest that descriptive norms may serve as a heuristic to guide food choices in certain choice settings involving similar options.

Unlocking the Power of Non-Fungible Token (NFT) Marketing: How NFT Perceptions Foster Brand Loyalty and Purchase Intention among Millennials and Gen-Z

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have garnered attention among marketers; however, their utilization in branding campaigns remains largely underexplored. The present study examines the perceptions of Gen Zers and millennials toward branded NFTs and the impact of these perceptions on their attitudes and behaviors toward both the NFTs and the brand. The study proposes and tests a model based on the technology acceptance model and the theory of reasoned action to explain how NFT perceptions (perceived usefulness, ease of use, playfulness, risk, and scarcity) influence their evaluations of branded NFTs, willingness to purchase branded NFTs, brand attitude, and ultimately brand loyalty and purchase intentions, via a quasi-experiment. Findings showed that the perceived usefulness, playfulness, and scarcity of NFTs, as well as NFTs as a low-risk purchase, helped strengthen brand purchase intentions. More important, attitudes toward branded NFTs, willingness to purchase NFTs, brand attitudes, and brand loyalty positively mediated this relationship. Also, perceived descriptive norms of NFTs positively related to willingness to purchase branded NFTs. These findings advance both theory and practice in NFT marketing, representing one of the first empirical studies in this area.

Confidence in Ability to Communicate With Sexual Partners About PrEP Among Black Cisgender Women.

This study explored the factors associated with Black women's confidence in their ability to engage male sexual partners in discussions about PrEP. Communication about PrEP with male partners is an important, yet minimally explored, outcome in PrEP research among Black women in heterosexual partnerships. Among 315 respondents, results show significant differences in anticipated stigma and interest in PrEP between a binary outcome variable being confident and not-confident discussing PrEP with sexual partners. Further, factors such as employment, worrying about HIV infection, interest in taking oral PrEP, subjective norms, injunctive norms, and descriptive norms were associated with Black women's higher odds of confidence in their ability to engage sexual partners about PrEP. Conversely, PrEP disapproval and stigma resulted in lower odds of Black women's confidence in their ability to engage sexual partners about PrEP. Results indicate the need for continued investigation of confidence and, relatedly, communication about PrEP among heterosexual couples and communitylevel interventions normalizing PrEP discussions and uptake.

Residential’s Household Intention to Utilize Their Food : A Case Study in Solo, Indonesia

Food loss and food waste leads to severe effect such as economic, environment and social consequences in Indonesia as the third largest contributor of food waste In the world. Most of the food waste source in Indonesia is from household sector. This phenomenon needs to be analyzed more deeply with tested variables related to human behaviour and perception. This study investigates determinants of residents’ participation intention and behaviour to waste their food in a framework that incorporates Extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB). The modified TPB questionnaire was given to 300 respondent samples ever used waste bank in Solo, Central Java. The analysis in this study was carried out using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), The result of this research is that there are five significant correlations between variables, namely Perceived Circular Knowledge, Perceived Economic Usage, Perceived Economic Knowledge, Descriptive Norms and attitude have a significant effect on Intention to Use. This study also found that the Perceived Effectiveness, Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Behavioural Control factors had no significant effect on Intention to Use.

Predictors of rural driver self-reported passing behaviors when interacting with farm equipment on the roadway

BackgroundCrashes involving farm equipment (FE) are a major safety concern for farmers as well as all other users of the public road system in both rural and urban areas. These crashes often involve passenger vehicle drivers striking the farm equipment from behind or attempting to pass, but little is known about drivers’ perceived norms and self-reported passing behaviors. The objective of this study is to examine factors influencing drivers' farm equipment passing frequencies and their perceptions about the passing behaviors of other drivers. MethodsData were collected via intercept surveys with adult drivers at local gas stations in two small rural towns in Iowa. The survey asked drivers about their demographic information, frequency of passing farm equipment, and perceptions of other drivers' passing behavior in their community and state when approaching farm equipment (proximal and distal descriptive norms). A multinomial logistic regression model was used to estimate the relationship between descriptive norms and self-reported passing behavior. ResultsSurvey data from 201 adult drivers showed that only 10% of respondents considered farm equipment crashes to be a top road safety concern. Respondents who perceived others passing farm equipment frequently in their community were more likely to report that they also frequently pass farm equipment. The results also showed interactions between gender and experience operating farm equipment in terms of self-reported passing behavior. Conclusions/implicationsResults from this study suggest local and state-level norms and perceptions of those norms may be important targets for intervention to improve individual driving behaviors around farm equipment.

Factors Predicting Intentions of Adoption and Continued Use of Artificial Intelligence Chatbots for Mental Health: Examining the Role of UTAUT Model, Stigma, Privacy Concerns, and Artificial Intelligence Hesitancy.

Background: Artificial intelligence-based chatbots (AI chatbots) can potentially improve mental health care, yet factors predicting their adoption and continued use are unclear. Methods: We conducted an online survey with a sample of U.S. adults with symptoms of depression and anxiety (N = 393) in 2021 before the release of ChatGPT. We explored factors predicting the adoption and continued use of AI chatbots, including factors of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model, stigma, privacy concerns, and AI hesitancy. Results: Results from the regression indicated that for nonusers, performance expectancy, price value, descriptive norm, and psychological distress are positively related to the intention of adopting AI chatbots, while AI hesitancy and effort expectancy are negatively associated with adopting AI chatbots. For those with experience in using AI chatbots for mental health, performance expectancy, price value, descriptive norm, and injunctive norm are positively related to the intention of continuing to use AI chatbots. Conclusions: Understanding the adoption and continued use of AI chatbots among adults with symptoms of depression and anxiety is essential given that there is a widening gap in the supply and demand of care. AI chatbots provide new opportunities for quality care by supporting accessible, affordable, efficient, and personalized care. This study provides insights for developing and deploying AI chatbots such as ChatGPT in the context of mental health care. Findings could be used to design innovative interventions that encourage the adoption and continued use of AI chatbots among people with symptoms of depression and anxiety and who have difficulty accessing care.