scholarly journals Non-selfish behaviour: Are social preferences or social norms revealed in distribution decisions?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaun P. Hargreaves Heap ◽  
Konstantinos Matakos ◽  
Nina Sophie Weber
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Social Preference ◽  
Social Preferences ◽  
Social Identification ◽  
Survey Experiments ◽  
Pareto Criterion ◽  
Perceived Social Norms

People frequently behave non-selfishly in situations where they can reduce their own payoff to help others. It is typically assumed that such pro-social behaviour arises because people are motivated by a social preference. An alternative explanation is that they follow a social norm. We test with two survey experiments (N=2,408) which of these two explanations can better explain decisions people make in a simple distribution game under three different elicitation mechanisms. Unlike previous studies, we elicit preferences and perceived social norms directly for each subject. We find that i) norm-following better explains people’s distributive choices compared to social preferences and ii) lack of confidence in one’s social preference –itself explained by weaker social identification— predicts norm-following. Our findings imply that the Pareto criterion has weaker (than previously thought) foundations for welfare evaluations, but this effect may be attenuated in societies with stronger social identification. Perhaps unexpectedly, but unsurprisingly given i) above, we find that different mechanisms for eliciting social preferences have no effect on distribution decisions.

Sensitivity of Stationary Equitable Preferences

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tapan Mitra
Keyword(s):  
Finite Number ◽  
Social Preference ◽  
Social Preferences ◽  
Principal Result ◽  
Fundamental Difficulty ◽  
The Future ◽  
Utility Stream ◽  
Preference Orders ◽  
Infinite Utility Streams

The paper studies the sensitivity implications of the class of monotone social preference orders on infinite utility streams which satisfy the axioms of Equity (Finite Anonymity) and Stationarity (Independent Future). The principal result of this investigation is that representability of such preference orders implies a certain lack of sensitivity to the utility stream of any finite number of generations, which we refer to as ‘insensitivity to the present’. Our result points to a fundamental difficulty in implementing the sustainability principle, which requires intertemporal social preferences to reflect fairly the interests of the generations in the present and in the future.

Can Humanism be the Social Norm?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon D. Welch
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Human Reasoning ◽  
Individual Freedom ◽  
Social Divisions ◽  
The Social

Assaults on truth and divisions about the nature of wise governance are not momentary political challenges, unique to particular moments in history. Rather, they demonstrate fundamental weaknesses in human reasoning and core dangers in ways of construing both individual freedom and cohesive communities. It will remain an ongoing challenge to learn to deal rationally with what is an intrinsic irrationality in human cognition and with what is an intrinsic tendency toward domination and violence in human collectivities. In times of intense social divisions, it is vital to consider the ways in which humanism might function as the social norm by, paradoxically, functioning in a way different from other social norms. Humanism is not the declaration that a certain set of values or norms are universally valid. At its best and most creative, humanism is not limited to a particular set of norms, but is, rather, the commitment to a certain process in which norms are continuously created, critically evaluated, implemented, sustained or revised. Humanism is a process of connection, perception, implementation, and critique, and it applies this process as much to itself as to other traditions.

The role of social norms in the relationship between anti-smoking advertising campaigns and smoking cessation: a scoping review

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 179-194
Author(s):  
Joanne Dono ◽  
Caroline Miller ◽  
Kerry Ettridge ◽  
Carlene Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Smoking Cessation ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Significant Heterogeneity ◽  
Mass Media Campaign ◽  
Media Campaign ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract A systematic scoping review of anti-smoking mass media campaign literature provided opportunity to explore how social normative theories and constructs are used to influence smoking cessation. Synthesis of findings was constrained by significant heterogeneity. Nevertheless, the results indicate that a broader conceptualization of social norm is worthy of further exploration. Perceptions of what others think and do contributed in multiple ways to the relationship between anti-smoking messaging and quitting outcomes. Furthermore, integrating research on social norms, social identity and communication may improve understanding of why quitting intentions are enhanced in some circumstances but reactance and counter-arguing responses corresponding to lower quitting intentions occur in others. Integrating a broader theoretical understanding of normative influences into campaign development and evaluation may prove useful in demonstrating the effectiveness of this approach in behaviour change campaigns.

Parental leave length, social norms, and female labor market re-entry frictions

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 600-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vojtech Bartoš ◽  
Barbara Pertold-Gebicka
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Job Search ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Human Resource Managers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Job Applicant ◽  
Employment Gaps ◽  
The Difference

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the role of employers in creating employment gaps among women returning to the labor market after parental leaves of different durations. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a controlled correspondence field experiment that orthogonally manipulates parental leave length and the quality of fictitious female job candidates. The experiment is complemented with a survey among human resource managers. Findings High-quality candidates receive more interview invitations when applying after a short parental leave, while low-quality (LQ) candidates receive more interview invitations when applying after a typical three years long parental leave. Survey results suggest that the difference in invitations between short and typical leave treatments is driven by a social norm that mothers should stay home with children younger than three. Productivity gains from employing a LQ job applicant with a shorter career break might not be high enough to outweigh the adverse social norm effect. Social implications The presented results point toward the strong effect of prevailing social norms on job search prospects of women returning to the labor market after parental leave. Originality/value A correspondence experiment has not been used before to study the relationship between time spent on leave and the labor market prospects of mothers. It also extends research on social norms to the domain of hiring decisions.

scholarly journals The Ethics of Stigma in Medical Male Circumcision Initiatives Involving Adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Rennie ◽  
Adam Gilbertson ◽  
Denise Hallfors ◽  
Winnie K Luseno
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Male Circumcision ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Human History ◽  
Health Prevention ◽  
Medical Male Circumcision ◽  
Demand Creation ◽  
Ethics Research

Abstract Ongoing global efforts to circumcise adolescent and adult males to reduce their risk of acquiring HIV constitute the largest public health prevention initiative, using surgical means, in human history. Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) programs in Africa have significantly altered social norms related to male circumcision among previously non-circumcising groups and groups that have practiced traditional (non-medical) circumcision. One consequence of this change is the stigmatization of males who, for whatever reason, remain uncircumcised. This paper discusses the ethics of stigma with regard to uncircumcised adolescent males in global VMMC programs, particularly in certain recruitment, demand creation and social norm interventions. Grounded in our own experiences gained while conducting HIV-related ethics research with adolescents in Kenya, we argue that use of explicit or implicit stigma to increase the number of VMMC volunteers is unethical from a public health ethics perspective, particularly in campaigns that leverage social norms of masculinity. Ongoing global efforts to circumcise adolescent and adult males to reduce their risk of acquiring HIV constitute the largest public health prevention initiative, using surgical means, in human history. VMMC programs in Africa have significantly altered social norms related to male circumcision among previously non-circumcising groups and groups that have practiced traditional (non-medical) circumcision. One consequence of this change is the stigmatization of males who, for whatever reason, remain uncircumcised. This paper discusses the ethics of stigma with regard to uncircumcised adolescent males in global VMMC programs, particularly in certain recruitment, demand creation and social norm interventions. Grounded in our own experiences gained while conducting HIV-related ethics research with adolescents in Kenya, we argue that use of explicit or implicit stigma to increase the number of VMMC volunteers is unethical from a public health ethics perspective, particularly in campaigns that leverage social norms of masculinity.

Corruption and the criminal law: assurance and deterrence

2021 ◽  
pp. e20210014
Author(s):  
Vincent Chiao
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Ideal Types ◽  
Systemic Corruption ◽  
Substantial Degree

In this article, I consider the degree to which criminal justice interventions may be expected to ameliorate systemic corruption. I distinguish between two ideal types of corrupt actors – conditional cooperators and autonomous defectors – and argue that the prospects of reform through criminal justice is greatly affected by the relative preponderance of each type. When conditional cooperators predominate, the criminal law serves primarily to provide assurance that a perceived social norm is effective, in that the norm is both widely adhered to, and adhered to because people endorse the propriety of that norm. When autonomous defectors predominate, the criminal law serves primarily to deter would-be cheaters by attaching costs, at least in expectation, to cheating. Because patterns of compliance based upon a social norm tend to be self-reinforcing, unlike patterns of compliance motivated by fear of sanction, I argue that the prospects of sustainable reform through criminal justice interventions is likely to depend to a substantial degree upon convincing people to trust social norms rather than rely upon their private judgments of what is in their interest – that is, to become conditional cooperators.

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