How norm violators rise and fall in the eyes of others: The role of sanctions

Norm Dynamics: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Social Norm Emergence, Persistence, and Change

Social norms are the glue that holds society together, yet our knowledge of them remains heavily intellectually siloed. This article provides an interdisciplinary review of the emerging field of norm dynamics by integrating research across the social sciences through a cultural-evolutionary lens. After reviewing key distinctions in theory and method, we discuss research on norm psychology-the neural and cognitive underpinnings of social norm learning and acquisition. We then overview how norms emerge and spread through intergenerational transmission, social networks, and group-level ecological and historical factors. Next, we discuss multilevel factors that lead norms to persist, change, or erode over time. We also consider cultural mismatches that can arise when a changing environment leads once-beneficial norms to become maladaptive. Finally, we discuss potential future research directions and the implications of norm dynamics for theory and policy.

Rebels with a cause? How norm violations shape dominance, prestige, and influence granting

Norms play an important role in upholding orderly and well-functioning societies. Indeed, violations of norms can undermine social coordination and stability. Much is known about the antecedents of norm violations, but their social consequences are poorly understood. In particular, it remains unclear when and how norm violators gain or lose influence in groups. Some studies found that norm violators elicit negative responses that curtail their influence in groups, whereas other studies documented positive consequences that enhance violators' influence. We propose that the complex relationship between norm violation and influence can be understood by considering that norm violations differentially shape perceptions of dominance and prestige, which tend to have opposite effects on voluntary influence granting, depending on the type of norm that is violated. We first provide correlational (Study 1) and causal (Study 2) evidence that norm violations are associated with dominance, and norm abidance with prestige. We then examine how dominance, prestige, and resultant influence granting are shaped by whether local group norms and/or global community norms are violated. In Study 3, protagonists who violated global (university) norms but followed local (sorority/fraternity) norms were more strongly endorsed as leaders than protagonists who followed global norms but violated local norms, because the former were perceived not only as high on dominance but also on prestige. In Study 4, popular high-school students were remembered as violating global (school) norms while abiding by local (peer) norms. In Study 5, individuals who violated global (organizational) norms while abiding by local (team) norms were assigned more leadership tasks when global and local norms conflicted (making violators "rebels with a cause") than when norms did not conflict, because the former situation inspired greater prestige. We discuss implications for the social dynamics of norms, hierarchy development, and leader emergence.

Does Perceived Control Matter in the Outpatient Waiting Room?

OBJECTIVE

The study examined perceived control in the context of the outpatient waiting room to further understand the extent to which patients want to exercise control in that environment. Background: In Ulrich's theory of supportive design, research shows more evidence for positive distraction and social support than for perceived control; its role in outpatient settings has not been examined.

METHOD

This between-subjects experimental design, in which participants read a written scenario varying the number of patients waiting (1 or 5) and the control available (no information provided, personal controls, and room controls), examined the effect of those variables on stress, satisfaction with the environment, extent of perceived control, and participants' schema of who should control the environment of the waiting room.

RESULTS

Having individual controls available in the waiting room favorably impacted the perception of the environment but did not significantly impact stress. The data show that people likely have a schema of appropriate behavior in a doctor's waiting room, which does not encourage manipulation of environmental elements.

CONCLUSIONS

In the doctor's office waiting room, having individual controls, such as on-off knobs on table lamps next to each chair, can improve evaluation of the environment and increase people's perception of control.