Why do we follow the behavior of others?

Social Norms

, explained.
Bias

What are Social Norms?

Social norms are collectively held beliefs about what kind of behavior is appropriate in a given situation. They range from specific customs, like the Western tradition of shaking hands when you meet someone, to more general rules that govern behavior and influence our understanding of other people.

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Where this bias occurs

Social norms are all around us. We’re susceptible to them in every setting, and they can even influence us to do things that we normally wouldn’t. Let’s say you’re out walking, drinking a take-out coffee as you go. The neighborhood you’re in seems fairly vacant, and there’s a lot of litter on the ground. When you finish your coffee, you toss it onto the sidewalk instead of finding a garbage can, because clearly, that’s what everybody else does.

Most of the time, social norms dictate our individual behaviors, interactions with other people, and daily routines. They’re like a set of rules or expectations that shape how we dress, speak, show respect, and even how we express emotions. These norms are often so ingrained that we follow them automatically, without consciously thinking about them. In fact, social norms are often a very good predictor of behavior, particularly in unfamiliar or uncertain situations. 

Social norms are also highly contextual. What’s considered normal in one culture may seem completely alien in another. Although related, social norms are not identical to cultural norms—they are influenced by them as a contextual factor. For example, in many East Asian cultures, it's customary to remove your shoes before entering someone’s home, as a sign of respect and cleanliness. In contrast, someone from a Western country unfamiliar with this norm might accidentally keep their shoes on indoors. They don’t do this out of disrespect, but because the social norms they are accustomed to are different. Social norms, therefore, are learned through cultural exposure and socialization (known as social learning)—not a set of rules we’re naturally born with. 

According to psychologists Robert Cialdini and colleagues, here are two types of social norms:28 

  1. Subjective norms (sometimes also called descriptive norms) refer to the perceived social pressure an individual feels to perform or not perform a certain behavior, based on what they believe people around them expect. For example, you may feel pressured to recycle because everyone on your street does. 
  2. Injunctive norms describe what people believe is approved or disapproved by others. That is, what society thinks you should do. For example, a sign that says “Don’t litter—keep your community clean” encourages behavior that aligns with shared social values. In this case, littering would go against the social norm and be disapproved of by others. 

Social norms can also be distinguished between those that have negative (i.e., potentially harmful) impacts and those that have positive impacts on people’s lives and society.31 Harmful norms can perpetuate inequality, discrimination, or risky behaviors, such as norms that normalize violence against women or discourage males from seeking mental health support. In contrast, positive norms encourage prosocial or individual actions, like volunteering, recycling, or regularly exercising. 

Sources

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About the Authors

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Dan Pilat

Dan is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. Dan has a background in organizational decision making, with a BComm in Decision & Information Systems from McGill University. He has worked on enterprise-level behavioral architecture at TD Securities and BMO Capital Markets, where he advised management on the implementation of systems processing billions of dollars per week. Driven by an appetite for the latest in technology, Dan created a course on business intelligence and lectured at McGill University, and has applied behavioral science to topics such as augmented and virtual reality.

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Dr. Sekoul Krastev

Dr. Sekoul Krastev is a decision scientist and Co-Founder of The Decision Lab, one of the world's leading behavioral science consultancies. His team works with large organizations—Fortune 500 companies, governments, foundations and supernationals—to apply behavioral science and decision theory for social good. He holds a PhD in neuroscience from McGill University and is currently a visiting scholar at NYU. His work has been featured in academic journals as well as in The New York Times, Forbes, and Bloomberg. He is also the author of Intention (Wiley, 2024), a bestselling book on the science of human agency. Before founding The Decision Lab, he worked at the Boston Consulting Group and Google.

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