Role Of Social Norms Research Articles

The role of social norms on preferences towards climate change policies: A meta-analysis

The present study provides a review of existing assessments of preferences for climate change mitigation and adaptation policies through a worldwide meta-analysis. In this study, we analyze the impact of social values and norms on preferences towards climate change adaptation and mitigation policies. In a sample of 58 international studies, we found that mitigation actions were preferred over adaptation actions, and that preferences towards climate change policies are affected by attitudes towards time and social norms. In particular, societies with a long-term orientation display greater support towards climate change policies. These results therefore reveal the role of social factors as being crucial in order to understand the acceptability of climate change policies at a worldwide level.

The role of social norms and informal sanctions in catch‐and‐release angling

AbstractThis study focuses on norms and informal sanctions of catch‐and‐release angling and their implications for fishery management. A Web‐based questionnaire of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., anglers in the Lakselva River, Norway, yielded 656 answers (response rate 68 %). Anglers were segmented into four subgroups: catch and release, keeper, something else, trophy angler. In all groups, the reward (positive feeling) was high and punishment was low for releasing a large salmon as expressed by the intensity of self‐sanctions. All groups saw keeping a large salmon mostly as a rewarding experience, although the C&R and trophy segments reported less rewards and more ‘punishment’ for keeping. There is evidence for both a medium strength C&R norm and a weak keep norm in this fishery, receiving different ascriptions between angler groups. The results help understand angler group conflicts and explain how angling behaviour is formed, thereby helping management agencies achieving angler satisfaction.

Chinese immigrant parents’ vaccination decision making for children: a qualitative analysis

BackgroundWhile immunization coverage rates for childhood routine vaccines in Hong Kong are almost 100%, the uptake rates of optional vaccines remain suboptimal. Understanding parental decision-making for children’s vaccination is important, particularly among minority groups who are most vulnerable and underserved. This study explored how a subsample of new immigrant mothers from mainland China, a rapidly-growing subpopulation in Hong Kong, made decisions on various childhood and adolescent vaccines for their offspring, and identified key influences affecting their decision making.MethodsSemi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 23 Chinese new immigrant mothers recruited by purposive sampling. All interviews were audio-taped, transcribed and analyzed using a Grounded Theory approach.ResultsParticipants’ conversation revealed five underlying themes which influenced parents’ vaccination decision-making: (1) Institutional factors, (2) Insufficient vaccination knowledge and advice, (3) Affective impacts on motivation, (4) Vaccination barriers, and (5) Social influences. The role of social norms appeared overwhelmingly salient influencing parents’ vaccination decision making. Institutional factors shaped parent’s perceptions of vaccination necessity. Fear of vaccine-targeted diseases was a key motivating factor for parents adopting vaccination. Insufficient knowledge about vaccines and targeted diseases, lack of advice from health professionals and, if provided, suspicions regarding the motivations for such advice were common issues. Vaccination cost was a major barrier for many new immigrant parents.ConclusionsSocial norms play a key role influencing parental vaccination decision-making. Insight gained from this study will help inform healthcare providers in vaccination communication and policymakers in future vaccination programme.

The role of social norms in climate adaptation: Mediating risk perception and flood insurance purchase

Flood insurance plays an important role in climate adaptation by recovering insured losses in the event of catastrophic flooding. Voluntary adoption of flood insurance has been seen as a function of risk perception that is shaped by social norms. This paper attempts to clarify the relationship between these factors. It is based on a household survey conducted in the eastern cities of Australia and involving a total of 501 randomly selected residents. Results of a path analysis show that the likelihood of having flood insurance cover was associated with perceived social norms, but not perceived flood risk. In addition, perceived norms and risk were statistically related to each other. It is concluded that social norms played a mediating role between insuring decision and risk perception. Risk perception might influence the insuring decision indirectly through shaping perception of social norms. This implies that adaptive behaviour is not necessarily a function of risk perception, but an outcome of its impacts upon the ways in which the individuals situate themselves in their social circles or the society. There is a feedback process in which individual perceptions of risk manifest as both a cause and effect, shaping and being shaped by the socio-cultural context.

Value of Faith: Evidence on Religious Environment and Cost of Debt

Previous studies document that social norms, such as religion, influences individual and corporate decision making. Using samples of credit ratings, bond yields, and debt covenants, we examine whether the religious environment of a firm influences outside parties' perception of the firm and their business transactions. We find that firms located in the more religious areas receive better credit ratings. Bond investors demand lower yields and impose fewer covenants on such firms. Additional tests suggest that these findings are unlikely to be driven by omitted variables or reverse causality. Our study highlights the important role of social norms in business transactions.

The heritability of moral standards for everyday dishonesty

Previous research on the acceptability of dishonest actions has focused on the role of social norms and internal reward mechanisms. Using a sample of over 2000 Swedish adult twins, this manuscript examines whether there exists another source that is driving differences in perceptions of the acceptability of dishonest actions: genetic variation. We find that much of the variation in perceptions of the acceptability of dishonest actions is attributable to genetic variation between individuals.

Female labor force participation in Turkey: The role of conservatism

The aim of this paper is to investigate the role of conservatism in shaping women's labor force participation decision. Turkey is a particularly important case as, unlike in many other countries, female labor force participation (FLFP) has shown a decreasing trend over the last 50 years. In addition to the main determinants found in previous literature, this paper adds a new variable that influences FLFP in Turkey: conservatism and the role of social norms. Three indices that might influence FLFP are identified: religion, social norms, and conservatism. The results are in accordance with the previous literature, which reveals that urbanization, and education levels play an important role in FLFP. An additional important innovation of this paper is the identification of the impact of social norms and religion on rural and urban areas. While such factors have a negative effect on female employment in urban areas, no significant effect is seen in rural areas.

Promoting innovation in the MENA region: the role of social norms and individual factors in entrepreneurial networks

Research has shown that innovation, as a form of entrepreneurship, leverages social networks and enable entrepreneurs to access external resources and knowledge. This paper investigates the effect of entrepreneurs’ networks on innovation outcomes within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The paper analyses the role of cultural contingencies, notably social norms on innovation. In addition to culture, a comprehensive model is posited that integrates cognitive and motivational aspects and examines their role on the relationship of networks and innovation. The proposed model is tested using SEM. The results confirm the relevance of networks for innovation outcomes in the MENA region. The entrepreneurs in the MENA region mainly rely on private networks, which have no relevance for innovation, unlike professional and international networks. Moreover, cultural environment has a negative effect on innovation outcomes. It is observed that network relations enhance motivation positively and motivation...

Protocol for a Respondent-Driven Sampling Study Exploring the Roles of Peer Norms in HIV-Related Practices of Gay Men

Introduction: Sexual behaviour among gay and other men who have sex with men (GMSM) is influenced by the shared understanding of HIV/STI risk and peer norms regarding sexual behaviour. However, there is little research evidence to support this relationship. The unique geographic spread of Australian communities, the history of Australian HIV epidemic and the different patterns in risky sexual practices and HIV diagnoses across Australia present an opportunity to explore the role of social norms and GMSM behaviours in shaping different patterns of HIV epidemics. We describe the protocol of the study of contemporary norms in networks and communities of GMSM (CONNECT) which investigates gay community behavioural norms and practices. Methods: CONNECT is aimed to 1) identify the patterns of connections between individuals in GMSM communities and assess how they shape HIV-related behaviours; 2) describe the relationship between social norms and sexual practices; and 3) compare the norms and patterns of behaviour in geographically and epidemiologically distinct GMSM populations in three Australian states New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia, in order to identify local community norms and barriers to effective HIV prevention. This quantitative cross-sectional study uses respondent-driven sampling (RDS) for recruitment. Results: Analyses will be carried out on individual and community level and will investigate the relationship between community-level behavioural norms and associated practices of individuals. Conclusion: CONNECT is anticipated to inform HIV prevention services to better target and increase the effectiveness of the current health promotion for GMSM in the context of increasing HIV/STI incidence.

A continuous model of income insurance

We develop a simple yet realistic model of income insurance, where the individual’s ability and willingness to work is treated as a continuous variable. In this framework, income insurance not only provides income smoothing, it also relieves the individual from particularly burdensome work. As a result, the individual adjusts his labor supply in a continuous fashion to the implicit tax wedge of the insurance system. Moral hazard, in the sense that an individual receives insurance benefits without actually being fully qualified, also becomes a matter of degree. Moreover, our continuous framework makes it easy to analyze both the role of administrative rejection of claims, and the role of social norms, for the utilization of insurance.

Justice and self-interest: two fundamental motives

1. Contesting the primacy of self-interest 2. Why does justice matter? The development of a personal contract 3. Commitment to justice: the initial primary automatic reaction 4. Explaining the myth of self-interest 5. Defining the justice motive: re-integrating procedural and distributive justice 6. How people assess deserving and justice: the role of social norms 7. Integrating justice and self-interest: a tentative model 8. Maintaining the commitment to justice in a complex world 9. Bringing it closer to home: justice in another 'American tragedy' 10. Emotional aftereffects: some negative consequences and thoughts on how to avoid them.

Longitudinal associations between descriptive and injunctive norms of youngsters and heavy drinking and problem drinking in late adolescence

Cross-sectionally, social norms are related to heavy and problem drinking in late adolescence. A better understanding is needed regarding the longitudinal associations between social norms in younger populations and heavy and problem drinking over time. This study distinguished between descriptive (proximal reference group) and injunctive norms (proximal and distal reference groups). This study evaluated the perception of social norms in youngsters during early adolescence (13–15 years) and the contribution of these norms to heavy and problem drinking over a 4-year period. Adolescents (N = 428; 205 boys) participated in a prospective study with 5 annual waves. Regression analyses were conducted to examine whether descriptive and injunctive norms prospectively predict heavy and problem drinking. Descriptive and injunctive norms of the proximal, but not the distal reference group, predicted heavy drinking in late adolescence. Descriptive norms of the proximal reference group also predicted problem drinking in late adolescence. This study demonstrates the role of social norms in the prediction of heavy and problem drinking over time. Additionally, it illustrates the contribution of proximal rather than distal reference peers to heavy and problem drinking in late adolescence, and it suggests the relevance of targeting these norms in prevention research.

Intellectual property law compliance in Europe: Illegal file sharing and the role of social norms

The current study empirically demonstrates the widely discussed gap between copyright law and social norms. Theoretically founded in the sociology of law, the study uses a well-defined concept of norms to quantitatively measure changes in the strength of social norms before and after the implementation of legislation. The ‘IPRED law’ was implemented in Sweden on 1 April 2009, as a result of the EU IPR Enforcement Directive 2004/48/EC. It aims at enforcing copyright, as well as other IP rights, when they are violated, especially online. A survey was conducted three months before the IPRED law came into force, and it was repeated six months later. The approximately one thousand respondents between fifteen and twenty-five years-of-age showed, among other things, that although actual file-sharing behaviour had to some extent decreased in frequency, social norms remained unaffected by the law.

Stuck in the 70s: The role of social norms in distracted driving

Successful campaigns to end distracted driving must understand prevailing social norms for behaviors such as texting and phoning while driving. The current work examined this issue by asking younger drivers to read car crash scenarios and rate the responsibility of the driver for the crash, and to levy fines and assign jail time, as a function of whether the driver was attentive, had been drinking, or was distracted by phoning or texting. In the first experiment, ratings were performed in the absence of injunctive norm information (laws against drunk and distracted driving). In the second experiment, injunctive norm information was included. Impaired drivers were viewed as more responsible in both experiments, with texting drivers viewed as the most responsible. However, drunk drivers received the most fines and jail time. When compared to data from the 1970s, the results show that anti-drunk driving campaigns have changed how younger drivers view drunk driving, but that norms have not yet changed for distracted driving, despite consistent results showing they know the risk of driving distracted. Implications for social norm distracted driving campaigns are discussed.

Reflecting on acts of kindness toward the self: Emotions, generosity, and the role of social norms

How do people respond, in terms of emotion and behavior, when prompted to recall an act of kindness from another person? As shown in two studies of undergraduates, responses differ based on whether the kindness is seen as normative – that is, whether it follows social norms related to the relational context and one's past behavior. On the whole, normative kindnesses were linked with more positive emotion and less negative emotion than non-normative kindnesses. Those asked to recall normative kindnesses also donated more money to charity than those who recalled non-normative kindnesses, an effect partly mediated by the greater positivity of the normative stories (Study 2). These results suggest that if the goal is to increase mood or generosity, recalling normative kindnesses is a safer strategy than recalling non-normative kindnesses. Yet, some results also supported an outgroup salience hypothesis, in which recalling non-normative kindnesses increased generous motives toward strangers and enemies.

Adolescent alcohol-related risk cognitions: The roles of social norms and social networking sites.

The present study examined the impact of socially based descriptive norms on willingness to drink alcohol, drinker prototype favorability, affective alcohol attitudes, and perceived vulnerability for alcohol-related consequences within the Prototype Willingness model. Descriptive norms were manipulated by having 189 young adolescents view experimenter-created profile pages from the social networking site Facebook, which either showed older peers drinking or not. The results provided evidence that descriptive norms for alcohol use, as portrayed by Facebook profiles, significantly impact willingness to use, prototypes, attitudes toward use, and perceived vulnerability. A multiple mediation analysis indicated that prototypes, attitudes, and perceptions of use mediated the relationship between the content of the Facebook profile and willingness. These results indicate that adolescents who perceive that alcohol use is normative, as evidenced by Facebook profiles, are at higher risk for cognitions shown to predict alcohol use than adolescents who do not see alcohol use portrayed as frequently on Facebook.

Intention to upload video content on the internet: The role of social norms and ego-involvement

This study examined the factors that are associated with people’s intention to upload video content online within the framework of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Using data from a survey of college students ( N = 241), structural equation modeling analyses revealed that individual descriptive norm is associated with the intention to upload video content online. In addition, ego-involvement played an essential role in accounting for both attitude toward the uploading behavior and the intention to upload. These findings suggest that integration of the constructs of the TPB, social norms, and ego-involvement can be a fruitful theoretical endeavor for understanding people’s intention to upload video content online. The theoretical implications and limitations were discussed.

Adolescents' Support for Smoke-Free Public Settings: The Roles of Social Norms and Beliefs About Exposure to Secondhand Smoke

To assess support for smoke-free policies in public settings among adolescent smokers and nonsmokers in a pro-smoking culture. A total of 1,924 Greek secondary school students (mean age = 14 years, standard deviation = 1.00, 50% female) from nine schools in the urban area of Thessaloniki, Greece, participated in the study. The main outcome measures were supportiveness of smoke-free policies in public settings. Smoker adolescents were less supportive of smoke-free policies, compared with nonsmokers. Regression analysis showed that policy support was predicted by smoking status and motivation to smoke, social norms, and beliefs about the effects of smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke. A significant interaction between smoking status and social norms was also observed, as smoker adolescents who often encountered others smoking in public places reported less support for smoke-free public settings. Three important processes underlying adolescents' support for smoke-free policies not mentioned in previous research were identified. First, social norms of the immediate social environment play a pivotal role in shaping policy support of young people. Second, the effects of smoking status on policy support are significantly moderated by exposure to public smoking. Finally, beliefs about the effects of exposure to secondhand smoke significantly predict young people's support for smoke-free public settings.

Women’s Perceptions of Their Community’s Social Norms Towards Assisting Women Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Violence

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.

Attitudes, delinquency and peers: The role of social norms in attitude-behaviour inconsistency

In this paper, we investigate attitude—behaviour inconsistency as well as the effect of social norms and other peer-related factors on the translation of attitudes into behaviour. We draw upon social psychological perspectives, in particular from the social identity approach. Data were used from two waves of 1385 secondary school students in the School Study of the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR). The results show that almost half of the respondents did not act in accordance with their previously measured attitudes on delinquency. Respondents who were exposed to an attitude-congruent social norm supportive of their own attitude reported significantly more attitude-consistent behaviour than respondents who were exposed to an incongruent norm. The effect of normative support was significantly moderated by attachment to peers but not by time spent with peers.