Morality and Prosocial Behavior: The Role of Awareness, Responsibility, and Norms in the Norm Activation Model
De Groot, J., & Steg, L. (2009). Morality and prosocial behavior: The role of awareness, responsibility, and norms in the norm activation model. The Journal of Social Psychology, 149(4), 425-449. doi:10.3200/SOCP.149.4.425-449.
The authors examined the relationships between variables included in the Norm Activation Model (NAM; S. H. Schwartz, 1977) of prosocial behavior. Specifically, they evaluated the strength of 2 commonly used interpretations of this model: the NAM as a mediator model and the NAM as a moderator model. For the most part, 5 studies focusing on a variety of prosocial intentions and behavior support the NAM as a mediator model. Furthermore, these studies validate past research by showing that variables included in the NAM are powerful in explaining a diversity of prosocial intentions and behavior in the social and environmental contexts.
