The version presented here may differ from the published version or, version of record, if you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the 'permanent WRAP url' above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription.
Responses to norm violators are poorly understood. On one hand, norm violators
are perceived as powerful, which may help them to get ahead. On the other hand,
norm violators evoke moral outrage, which may frustrate their upward social
mobility. We addressed this paradox by considering the role of culture.
Collectivistic cultures value group harmony and tight cultures value social
order. We therefore hypothesized that collectivism and tightness moderate
reactions to norm violators. We presented 2,369 participants in 19 countries
with a norm violation or a norm adherence scenario. In individualistic cultures,
norm violators were considered more powerful than norm abiders and evoked less
moral outrage, whereas in collectivistic cultures, norm violators were
considered less powerful and evoked more moral outrage. Moreover, respondents in
tighter cultures expressed a stronger preference for norm followers as leaders.
Cultural values thus influence responses to norm violators, which may have
downstream consequences for violators’ hierarchical positions.
Norms uphold the social order by guiding behavior without the force of laws. Accordingly, behaviors that violate norms pose a potential threat to societies. We review research on the antecedents and consequences of norm-violating behavior. Regarding antecedents, we distinguish between individuallevel factors such as power and (lack of) respect for norms, and social factors such as the behavior of relevant others. Regarding consequences, we identify intrapersonal effects of norm violations on the transgressor, including feelings of guilt and shame, and interpersonal effects of norm violations on others, including neurophysiological responses, affective reactions, social judgments, and behavioral tendencies (e.g., sanctioning, status conferral). We discuss the possibility of selfperpetuating versus self-defeating norm-violation cycles and outline a theoretical framework to guide future research.
Powerful people often act at will, even if the resulting behavior is inappropriate-hence the famous proverb ''power corrupts.'' Here, we introduce the reverse phenomenon-violating norms signals power. Violating a norm implies that one has the power to act according to one's own volition in spite of situational constraints, which fuels perceptions of power. Four studies support this hypothesis. Individuals who took coffee from another person's can (Study 1), violated rules of bookkeeping (Study 2), dropped cigarette ashes on the floor (Study 3), or put their feet on the table (Study 4) were perceived as more powerful than individuals who did not show such behaviors. The effect was mediated by inferences of volitional capacity, and it replicated across different methods (scenario, film clip, face-to-face interaction), different norm violations, and different indices of power (explicit measures, expected emotions, and approach/inhibition tendencies). Implications for power, morality, and social hierarchy are discussed.
The experience of awe is typically elicited in response to perceptually vast stimuli and is often characterized by feeling small and insignificant. In the present series of studies we aimed (1) to determine the effects of awe on body perception and (2) to elucidate the role of the personality trait of 'absorption' (i.e. the tendency to get fully immersed in one's experiences) in relation to the feeling of awe. Across 4 different studies, involving both lab-based and field experiments, we found that feelings of awe are associated with smaller body size estimates. We also found that absorption is a strong predictor of feelings of awe: people scoring high on absorption tended to report overall stronger feelings of aweirrespective of the experimental manipulation. In addition, experimentally manipulating absorption, by instructing participants to get fully absorbed in an external stimulus resulted in stronger feelings of awe. Thereby these findings illustrate that two key features underlying the experience of awe are changes in the perception of one's body and a tendency to get absorbed in internal or external stimuli.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.