The Effects of Norms on Environmental Behavior

Abstract

The study of norms is of paramount importance in understanding human behavior. An interdisciplinary literature, using varying definitions and conceptions, shows when and why norms emerge and spread, what form they can take, and how they are enforced. Here, we focus on theoretical and empirical literatures that treat norms as a factor influencing human behavior. We first present a new taxonomy of norms, which builds upon and merges previous taxonomies, to distinguish between different types of norms and enforcement mechanisms. We then provide a conceptual framework that identifies causes of the effects of norms based on psychological theories, which can serve as a foundation for much of the empirical economic literature measuring norm effects. Finally, we present an overview of empirical economic papers that study the effects of norms on environmentally relevant behavior, as a particularly relevant area for the study of norms. The aim of this overview is to highlight which effects have been insufficiently studied and to give a sense of the potential of norms, which should help policymakers to intervene in a more targeted way to address existing environmental problems.

Distinguishing fast change in social norms and slow change in personal norms in cooperative decision-making

“…Norms can be defined as behavioral rules for a specific situation (Dannenberg et al, 2024). Social situations are informed by a multitude of social norms, being what many people consider appropriate or normal behavior.…”

“…Moreover, norms have been stated to function at different levels, meaning the social/societal and the individual level (Cialdini et al, 1990;Farrow et al, 2017;Bicchieri et al, 2018;Dannenberg et al, 2024). Hence, individuals not only perceive and tend to conform to social norms, but also develop their own personal norms, a concept most notably known by the work of Schwartz (1977;Schwartz andHoward, 1981, 1982).…”

Effectiveness and context dependency of social norm interventions: five field experiments on nudging pro-environmental and pro-social behavior

“…The power of social norms on behavioral decisions has been shown by a vast body of research and on a wide variety of behaviors, including pro-environmental behaviors such as recycling (e.g., White et al, 2009 ), energy conservation (e.g., Schultz et al, 2008 ), and littering (e.g., Keizer et al, 2008 ), to only name a few (for a review see Dannenberg et al, 2024 ). Social norms are informal behavioral rules governing everyday life, indicating what other people do or believe is “the right thing” to do.…”