Hi all, It is easy to underestimate the critical role that others play on our behavior. Yet, social norms are all around us directing our behaviour from one day to the next. As a refresher, social norms are implicit rules about how groups of people are expected to act in various situations. They can be informal rules or codified into law. They influence people’s beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors in society. You may recall the different types of social norms. For example, descriptive social norms are based on what we observe other people doing, injunctive social norms are based on what we believe the community thinks we ought to be doing, and personal social norms are when we internalize what we believe is appropriate behavior. There is a less common type of social norm, though, that I’d like to introduce you to. These are dynamic social norms. Dynamic social norms are social norms that are shifting. For example, let’s say that you are developing a program that encourages cycling to work. You would like to make use of descriptive social norms to show that many people are currently engaging in this behavior, but the problem is that it’s actually a small minority. You realize that people would not see this as normative behavior. However, if you know that the small minority of people cycling to work is growing, you can apply dynamic social norms. Recent research demonstrates that highlighting that an increasing number of people are adopting the behavior, even if current engagement in the behavior is low, can positively affect adoption rates. When you illustrate that adoption rates are shifting, you are applying a dynamic social norm. Dynamic social norms have been shown to reduce both meat consumption and residential water use. To learn more about social norms, consider purchasing the fourth edition of Dr. Doug McKenzie-Mohr’s Fostering Sustainable Behavior book. You can find it here.
