Social Norms

Paper suggests that strategic alliances serve an important legitimating function for firms mediated by alliance governance structure and partner selection preferences, and that has a significant influence on firm and alliance performance. Propositions are developed to explain when firms are most likely to enter into alliances for legitimacy purposes and how the legitimating role of strategic alliances contributes to firm and alliance performance. The paper concludes with a summary and implications of a legitimacy-based view of alliances.

While leadership scholars increasingly acknowledge the influence of followers in the leadership process, less attention has been paid to their role in the destructive leadership process. Specifically, the current debate lacks a broad-based understanding of different susceptible follower types that synthesizes related research across academic domains. Expanding on Padilla, Hogan, and Kaiser's (2007) toxic triangle model of destructive leadership, we integrate research and theory across various academic literatures to derive a cohesive taxonomy of vulnerable followers that we call the susceptible circle. We describe the core characteristics of each follower type, drawing on Barbuto's (2000) theory of follower compliance to highlight the psychological processes that motivate each follower to comply with destructive leaders. We then conclude by discussing theoretical and practical implications, as well as avenues for future research.

In the current study, we investigate the impacts of social capital (SC) and intellectual capital (IC) on audit fees among the companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). Since the criteria for the norms and the networks are extremely correlated, we used a principal component analysis (PCA) to construct an index of social capital for each province between 2011 and 2016. The Pulic model is also used as a proxy for measuring value added intellectual capital (VAIC). The ordinary least squares (OLS) regression is employed in this study to test our research hypotheses as well. According to the research literature, on the one hand, investors and lenders can be more confident in the financial reporting honesty of the firms headquartered in areas with high social capital; on the other hand, auditors judge the trustworthiness of their clients based on where the firm is headquartered. Inconsistent with the prior studies, our findings show that companies headquartered in provinces with high social capital pay higher audit fees. Given that Iranian firms are under heavy financial pressure due to economic sanctions, those companies located in areas with higher social capital likely have abused the high level of trust that auditors and other groups in the market have in them and participated in earnings manipulation to mask their weak financial performance. Among the various components of IC, we found strong evidence that employed capital efficiency (ECE) and audit costs correlated positively. In short, this paper sheds light on the fact that severe financial pressures on managers may sometimes lead them to take advantage of the dark side of social capital and intellectual capital when preparing financial reports.

A recent experimental study of Cai and Wang [Cai, H., Wang, J., 2006. Overcommunication in strategic information transmission games. Games Econ. Behav. 95, 384–394] on strategic information transmission reveals that subjects tend to transmit more information than predicted by the standard equilibrium analysis. To evidence that this overcommunication phenomenon can be explained in terms of a tension between normative social behavior and incentives for lying, we show in a simple sender–receiver game that subjects incurring in costs to punish liars tell the truth more often than predicted by the logit agent quantal response equilibria whereas subjects that do not punish liars after receiving a deceptive message play, on the aggregate, equilibrium strategies. Thus, we can partition the subject pool into two groups, one group of subjects with preferences for truth-telling and one taking into account only material incentives.

This study explores how norms on social network sites evolve over time and how violations of these norms impact individuals’ self-presentational and relationship goals. Employing Expectancy Violations Theory (Burgoon, 1978) as a guiding framework, results from a series of focus groups suggest that both the content of the violation and the users’ relationship to the violator impact how individuals react to negative violations. Specifically, acquaintances who engage in minor negative violations are ignored or hidden, while larger infractions (that could negatively impact the individual) result in deletion of the offending content and—in extreme cases—termination of the Facebook friendship. Negative violations from close friends (that did not impact participants’ goals) resulted in confrontations, while similar violations from acquaintances were often ignored by participants in an effort to ‘keep the peace.’ Furthermore, positive violations were more likely to arise from acquaintances than close friends.

There is a growing body of empirical evidence on demographic and psychosocial predictors of doping intentions and behaviors utilizing a variety of variables and conceptual models. However, to date there has been no attempt to quantitatively synthesize the available evidence and identify the strongest predictors of doping. Using meta-analysis, we aimed to (i) determine effect sizes of psychological (e.g. attitudes) and social-contextual factors (e.g. social norms), and demographic (e.g. sex and age) variables on doping intentions and use; (ii) examine variables that moderate such effect sizes; and (iii) test a path analysis model, using the meta-analyzed effect sizes, based on variables from the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Articles were identified from online databases, by contacting experts in the field, and searching the World Anti-Doping Agency website. Studies that measured doping behaviors and/or doping intentions, and at least one other demographic, psychological, or soci...

This article develops a theoretical approach to stigma in international relations and resituates conventional approaches to the study of norms and international order. Correcting the general understanding that common values and norms are the building blocks of social order, this article claims that international society is in part constructed through the stigmatisation of ‘transgressive’ and norm-violating states and their ways of coping with stigma. Drawing on Erving Goffman, this article shows that stigmatisation serves the important function of producing and upholding ideas about ‘normal’ state behaviour. However, states are not passive objects of socialisation, but active agents. Stigmatised states cope strategically with their stigma and may, in some cases, challenge and even transform a dominant moral discourse. A taxonomy of stigma management strategies is presented: stigma recognition, where states identify with the ‘audience of normal states’ and seek to rise above their stigma (illustrated by the case of Germany); stigma rejection, where states deny that they are ‘deviant’ (illustrated by the case of Austria); and finally counter-stigmatisation, where states turn their stigma into an emblem of pride considering themselves superior to the stigmatisers (illustrated by the case of Cuba). Due to lack of agreement on what constitutes normal state behaviour, attempts to impose stigma may even have the opposite effect –  the stigmatisers become the transgressive. A focus on stigma opens up new avenues for research on norms, identities and international order.

To be and to remain ethical requires struggle from organizations. Struggling is necessary due to the pressures and temptations management and employees encounter in and around organizations. As the relevance of struggle for business ethics has not yet been analyzed systematically in the scientific literature, this paper develops a theory of struggle that elaborates on the meaning and dimensions of struggle in organizations, why and when it is needed, and what its antecedents and consequences are. An important conclusion is that the greater the ethics gap and opposing forces, the greater the struggle required. Viewing business ethics as struggle has several implications for theory and practice.

Prolific research suggests identity associates with pro-environmental behaviours (PEBs) that are individual and/or group focused. Individual PEB is personally driven, self-reliant, and are conducted on one’s own (e.g., home recycling). Group focused PEB is other people-reliant and completed as part of a group (e.g., attending meetings of an environmental organisation). A wide range of identities have been related to PEBs. For example, a recent systematic qualitative review revealed 99 different types of identities studied in a PEB context. Most studies were correlational, few had an experimental design. However, the relationships between all these identities and PEBs have so far not been tested quantitatively with meta-analytical techniques. As such, a clear overview of this field is currently lacking. Due to the diverse nature of the field, a priori hypotheses were not possible and relatively broad definitions of identity had to be used to encompass all types of identities and the diverse meanings of identity that have been included in PEB research. What prior theory did allow for was to assess the distinction between two main types of identity, namely how people label, describe, and recognise oneself individually (individual identity), or as part of a group (group identity). Our overall goal was thus to assess the current state of knowledge on identities and PEBs. In 104 studies using a meta-regression following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guidelines, our random-effects meta-analysis showed that the overall concept of identity associated with PEB with a medium Pearson’s r (Aim 1). Furthermore, we found that individual identities associated more strongly with PEBs than group identities (Aim 2). The associations between individual and group identities were stronger when the identity and PEB were from the same category (e.g., when both were group-focused; Aim 3). Methodologically, the findings revealed that group identities and group PEBs were most strongly associated for self-reported rather than observed PEBs (Aim 4). Overall identity associated most strongly with group PEBs in the field rather than in the lab (Aim 5) and in student- rather than non-student samples (Aim 6). We discuss the theoretical and practical implications.

We study the evolution of a social norm of “cooperation” in a dynamic environment. Each agent lives for two periods and interacts with agents from the previous and next generations via a coordination game. Social norms emerge as patterns of behavior that are stable in part due to agents’ interpretations of private information about the past, influenced by occasional commonly-observed past behaviors. For sufficiently backward-looking societies, history completely drives equilibrium play, leading to a social norm of high or low cooperation. In more forward-looking societies, there is a pattern of “reversion” whereby play starting with high (low) cooperation reverts toward lower (higher) cooperation. The impact of history can be countered by occasional “prominent” agents, whose actions are visible by all future agents and who can leverage their greater visibility to influence expectations of future agents and overturn social norms of low cooperation.

This paper integrates social norm constructs from different disciplines into an integrated model. Norms exist in the objective social environment in the form of behavioral regularities, patterns of sanctioning, and institutionalized practices and rules. They exist subjectively in perceived descriptive norms, perceived injunctive norms, and personal norms. We also distil and delineate three classic theories of why people adhere to norms: internalization, social identity, and rational choice. Additionally, we articulate an emerging theory of how perceived descriptive and injunctive norms function as two distinct navigational devices that guide thoughts and behavior in different ways, which we term “social autopilot” and “social radar.” For each type of norms, we suggest how it may help to understand cultural dynamics at the micro level (the acquisition, variable influence and creative mutation of cultural knowledge) and the macro level (the transmission, diffusion and evolution of cultural practices). Having laid the groundwork for an integrated study of norm—normology, we then introduce the articles of this special issue contributing theoretical refinements and empirical evidence from different methods and levels of analysis. Managerial implications are discussed.

What is considered to be fair depends on context-dependent expectations. Using a modified version of the Ultimatum Game, we demonstrate that both fair behavior and perceptions of fairness depend upon beliefs about what one ought to do in a situation — that is, upon normative expectations. We manipulate such expectations by creating informational asymmetries about the offer choices available to the Proposer, and find that behavior varies accordingly. Proposers and Responders show a remarkable degree of agreement in their beliefs about which choices are considered fair. We discuss how these results fit into a theory of social norms.

In this article, I employ an interactionist perspective from sociology to examine the dynamics of de-stigmatisation of nuclear-armed India after the 1998 nuclear tests. Drawing on Erving Goffman and other interactionist scholars, I study the social dimension of India’s transformation from ‘nuclear pariah’ to a ‘responsible’ nuclear-armed power that plays by the global non-proliferation rules even though it remains outside of the NPT club. I trace the interactive process of the normalisation of India’s deviant identity in nuclear politics, highlighting the key role of the United States in the de-stigmatisation of India’s outsider status, as well as the power-laden factors underpinning the process. Beyond the empirical contribution, I elaborate on discursive strategies that states employ to normalise their disvalued identities. By conceptually unpacking the logic of normalisation and de-stigmatisation in international politics, I aim to contribute to the current debates in International Relations about norms and deviance in world order.

Alcohol misuse amongst University students is a serious concern, and research has started to investigate the feasibility of using e-health interventions. This study aimed to establish the effectiveness of an electronic web-based personalised feedback intervention through the use of a randomised control trial (RCT).506 participants were stratified by gender, age group, year of study, self-reported weekly consumption of alcohol and randomly assigned to either a control or intervention condition. Intervention participants received electronic personalised feedback and social norms information on their drinking behaviour which they could access by logging onto the website at any time during the 12-week period. CAGE score, average number of alcoholic drinks consumed per drinking occasion, and alcohol consumption over the last week were collected from participants at pre- and post-survey.A significant difference in pre- to post-survey mean difference of alcohol consumed per occasion was found, with those in the intervention condition displaying a larger mean decrease when compared to controls. No intervention effect was found for units of alcohol consumed per week or for CAGE scores. Sixty-three percent of intervention participants agreed that the feedback provided was useful. Those intervention participants who were above the CAGE cut off were more likely to report that the website would make them think more about the amount they drank.Delivering an electronic personalised feedback intervention to students via the World Wide Web is a feasible and potentially effective method of reducing student alcohol intake. Further research is needed to replicate this outcome, evaluate maintenance of any changes, and investigate the process of interaction with web-based interventions.

In this article, we draw on insights from the interactionist perspective in sociology and international relations (IR) norm contestation literature to explore the relationship between deviance and normative change in international politics. In IR, this is still largely unexplored territory: we already know a great deal about how norms change, yet we know much less about the actual role norm violations play in this process. In order to address this gap, we conceptualize three types of normative contestation and affirmation that take place in connection with deviance (re)construction: (1) applicatory contestation and affirmation, reconstructing the meanings of international norms; (2) justificatory contestation and affirmation, challenging and reaffirming the legitimacy of international norms; and (3) hierarchical contestation and affirmation, contesting and reaffirming the relative value and importance of international norms. We discuss how, as a consequence of these dynamics, deviance-making produces both stability and change in the normative structure of world politics.

In explaining the sources of cooperation and prosocial behavior, psychologists, behavioral economists, and biologists often focus on factors internal to the individual, such as altruistic motivations, other-regarding preferences, and prosocial emotions. By contrast, sociologists typically emphasize social forces external to the individual, including norms, reputation systems, and social networks. Here we review evidence for these “rules, reputations, and relations,” showing that they have powerful and pervasive effects on cooperation and prosocial behavior. Our discussion highlights two emergent themes of the reviewed literature. First, although these classes of sociological mechanisms typically promote cooperation, their presence can also create ambiguity for individuals around the reasons for their own and others’ prosocial acts, and that ambiguity can undermine future prosociality in subsequent settings where the mechanisms are absent. Second, altruistic preferences and social mechanisms often interact, such that the causal significance of altruism is attenuated where these mechanisms are present.

"Corruption has become one of the most popular topics in the social scientific disciplines. However, there is a lack of interdisciplinary communication about corruption. Models developed by different
academic disciplines are often isolated from each other. The purpose of this paper is to review several major approaches to corruption and draw them closer to each other. Most studies of corruption fall
into three major categories: (i) rational-actor models where corruption is viewed as resulting from cost/benefit analysis of individual actors; (ii) structural models that focus on external forces that determine corruption; and (iii) relational models that emphasize social interactions and networks among corrupt actors. Focusing on actors’ behavior and the social context, this article explains corruption concepts taken from sociology, economics, organization studies, political science, social anthropology, and social psychology."

As in other areas of international development, we are witnessing the proliferation of 'traveling models' developed by international experts and introduced in an almost identical format across numerous countries to improve some aspect of maternal health systems in low-and middle-income countries. These policies and protocols are based on 'miracle mechanisms' that have been taken out of their original context but are believed to be intrinsically effective in light of their operational devices. In reality, standardised interventions are, in Africa and elsewhere, confronted with pragmatic implementation contexts that are always varied and specific, and which lead to drifts, distortions, dismemberments and bypasses. The partogram, focused antenatal care, the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV or performance-based payment all illustrate these implementation gaps, often caused by the routine behaviour of health personnel who follow practical norms (and a professional culture) that are often distinct from official norms – as is the case with midwives. Experiences in maternal and child health in Africa suggest that an alternative approach would be to start with the daily reality of social and practical norms instead of relying on models, and to promote innovations that emerge from within local health systems.

In the analysis of institutional development, critical junctures are moments in which structural (social, organizational, ideational) constraints on political decision-making are relaxed and new path-dependent institutions are put in place. Such structural indetermination leaves different institutional option open, at least two of which could ex ante be plausibly selected. Unlike economists, who have focused on the accumulation of unconnected micro-decisions as the possible cause of the emergence of new institutional equilibria, political scientists have instead emphasized the importance of contingent political decisions, and interactions among powerful individual and collective actors during critical junctures. Such decisions and interactions, however, have so far remained undertheorized in comparative-historical analysis. Drawing on different literatures in political science, and building on a definition of contingency that makes the concept usable in comparative-historical research, the chapter articulates propositions for making the agency and contingency at the core of critical junctures analytically tractable. The discussion highlights the theoretical and methodological payoffs of systematically analyzing the features of the politics of institution-making that are causally important for building or reforming path-dependent institutions during critical junctures. In particular, I focus on the formation of political coalitions, the emergence of “out-of-winset” outcomes, and the politics of ideas during crises. Looking at political decisions and interactions during critical junctures through these theoretical lenses can inform the comparative analysis of critical junctures, with the potential to yield fresh findings and to further the scholarly conversation on institutional change. The last part of the chapter discusses methodological issues in the study of critical junctures in comparative historical analysis, with particular emphasis on cross-sectional and longitudinal comparison, and the identification of negative cases.

In one-shot social dilemma experiments, cooperation rates dramatically increase if subjects are allowed to communicate before making a choice.  There are two possible explanations for this 'communication effect'. One is that communication enhances group identity, the other is that communication elicits social norms. I discuss both views and argue in favor of a norm-based explanation.

Community-based renewable energy initiatives may be important actors in the transition toward low-carbon energy systems. In turn, stimulating investments in renewable energy production at the community level requires a better understanding of investors’ motives. This paper aims to study the heterogeneity of motivations that drive individuals to participate in community renewable energy projects and the underlying explanatory factors behind this, as well as the implications for their level of engagement in initiatives. Based on quantitative data from an original survey conducted with two renewable energy cooperatives in Flanders, the statistical analysis shows that cooperative members should not be considered as one homogeneous group. Several categories of members with different motives and levels of engagement can be distinguished. This heterogeneity is explained by contrasts in terms of institutional settings, spatial patterns and attitudes to the diffusion of institutional innovations. Regarding policy implications, the findings suggest that this heterogeneity should be taken into account in designing more effective supporting policies to stimulate investments at the community level. The activation of social norms is also shown to be a promising mechanism for triggering investment decisions, although the implications of its interplay with economic incentives should be further explored.