An Explication of Social Norms

This article identifies four factors for consideration in norms-based research to enhance the predictive ability of theoretical models. First, it makes the distinction between perceived and collective norms and between descriptive and injunctive norms. Second, the article addresses the role of important moderators in the relationship between descriptive norms and behaviors, including outcome expectations, group identity, and ego involvement. Third, it discusses the role of both interpersonal and mass communication in normative influences. Lastly, it outlines behavioral attributes that determine susceptibility to normative influences, including behavioral ambiguity and the public or private nature of the behavior. The study of norms is of particular importance to communication scholarship because, by definition, norms are social phenomena, and they are propagated among group members through communication (Kincaid, 2004). Communication plays a part not only in formulating perceptions about norms (as when people use the preponderance of a behavior depicted in the media to form their perceptions about the prevalence of the behavior), but also in acting as a conduit of influence (when people base their decisions to act in a situation on the support for their actions that is communicated to them). This article is based on the premise that, given the centrality of communicative processes in propagating information about norms, its inclusion would enhance the explanatory power of theories of normative influences. The purpose of this article is to explore the intersection between social norms and communication by specifying the meaning of norms, delineating the moderators in the relationship between norms and behavior, and highlighting some of the attributes of behaviors that determine their susceptibility to normative influences.