Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
Department of Mathematics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2024 Mar 11;379(1897):20230027. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0027. Epub 2024 Jan 22.
We review theoretical approaches for modelling the origin, persistence and change of social norms. The most comprehensive models describe the coevolution of behaviours, personal, descriptive and injunctive norms while considering influences of various authorities and accounting for cognitive processes and between-individual differences. Models show that social norms can improve individual and group well-being. Under some conditions though, deleterious norms can persist in the population through conformity, preference falsification and pluralistic ignorance. Polarization in behaviour and beliefs can be maintained, even when societal advantages of particular behaviours or belief systems over alternatives are clear. Attempts to change social norms can backfire through cognitive processes including cognitive dissonance and psychological reactance. Under some conditions social norms can change rapidly via tipping point dynamics. Norms can be highly susceptible to manipulation, and network structure influences their propagation. Future models should incorporate network structure more thoroughly, explicitly study online norms, consider cultural variations and be applied to real-world processes. This article is part of the theme issue 'Social norm change: drivers and consequences'.
我们回顾了用于建模社会规范起源、持续和变化的理论方法。最全面的模型描述了行为、个人、描述性和规范性规范的共同演变，同时考虑了各种权威的影响，并考虑了认知过程和个体间差异。模型表明，社会规范可以提高个人和群体的幸福感。然而，在某些情况下，通过从众、偏好伪造和多元无知，有害规范可能会在人群中持续存在。即使特定行为或信仰体系相对于替代方案具有明显的社会优势，行为和信仰的极化也可以维持。通过包括认知失调和心理抗拒在内的认知过程，改变社会规范的尝试可能会适得其反。在某些情况下，社会规范可以通过临界点动力学迅速改变。规范很容易受到操纵，网络结构也会影响其传播。未来的模型应该更彻底地纳入网络结构，明确研究在线规范，考虑文化差异，并应用于现实世界的过程。本文是主题为“社会规范变化：驱动因素和后果”的特刊的一部分。
