When others change : the social influence of dynamic norms
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- It is well known that people conform to normative information about other people's current attitudes and behaviors. Do they also conform to dynamic norms—information about how other people's behavior is changing over time? If so, through what psychological processes do dynamic norms become influential? I theorized that, when others change, it can lead observers to infer specific inferences that facilitate personal change. I expected that witnessing change leads observers to infer that many of the barriers that had seemed to stand in the way of a change do not. If true, dynamic norms may alter diverse mechanisms of personal change, and encourage behavior change in diverse contexts. Specifically, others' change may convey that change is possible (self-efficacy), that change is considered important by others (prescriptive norms), and that a behavior can be compatible with one's identity (identity compatibility). Further, I expected that learning that norms are presently changing will lead people to envision and conform to future norm states as if they were the present (preconformity). Experiments 1 through 4 examined high levels of meat consumption, a normative and salient behavior that is decreasing in the United States. Dynamic norms motivated change despite prevailing static norms, increasing interest in eating less meat (Experiments 1--3) and doubling meatless orders at a cafe (Experiment 4). Mediators included the anticipation of less meat eating in the future and the inference that reducing meat consumption mattered to other people (Experiments 2 and 3). In Experiment 5, I took advantage of a natural comparison to provide evidence that dynamic norms can also strengthen social norm interventions when the static norm is positive; a positive dynamic norm resulted in reduced laundry loads and water use over 3 weeks during a drought. To further investigate psychological processes across a wider range of contexts, I examined dynamic norm effects in four domains: smokers' intention to quit, sleep-related behavior, men's identification as feminist, and reducing consumption of sugary beverages. I found that dynamic norms positively affected interest and intentions to change in each. Moreover, dynamic norms affected diverse psychological inferences, including the beliefs that personal change is possible (Experiment 6), that change is important to others (Experiment 7 and 9), and that change is compatible with one's social identity (Experiment 8). Specific instances of such changes statistically mediated the increase in change-related attitudes in each context. The results suggest that dynamic norms can help resolve a variety of psychological barriers to encourage personal change. They may thus be an especially robust source of social influence across contexts. Implications for a foundational theory of dynamic norm effects, and the role of dynamic norms in social change are discussed.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2018; ©2018 |
| Publication date | 2018; 2018 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Sparkman, Gregg |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Walton, Gregory M. (Gregory Mariotti) |
| Thesis advisor | Walton, Gregory M. (Gregory Mariotti) |
| Thesis advisor | Dweck, Carol S, 1946- |
| Thesis advisor | Ross, Lee |
| Degree committee member | Dweck, Carol S, 1946- |
| Degree committee member | Ross, Lee |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Psychology. |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Gregg Sparkman. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Psychology. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2018. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2018 by Gregg Robert Sparkman
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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