National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health.
School of Journalism and Information Communication, Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
Health Commun. 2024 Nov;39(13):3330-3341. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2024.2320412. Epub 2024 Feb 29.
Social norms can be studied at both the individual and societal levels. While the influence of individual perceived norms on health behaviors has been well-documented, the role of societal-level factors in social normative influence remains unclear. We adopted a multilevel approach to investigate the impact of individual-level perceived norms, country-level collective norms, and individualistic culture on mask-wearing behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. A secondary analysis of cross-sectional data collected from 23 countries ( = 450,223) was conducted. The findings reveal that perceived descriptive norms, perceived injunctive norms, and collective norms conjointly influenced mask-wearing behavior. Positive relationships between perceived descriptive and injunctive norms and mask wearing were stronger in countries with a higher collective norm. Furthermore, positive relationships between norms (i.e., perceived descriptive norms, perceived injunctive norms, and collective norms) and mask wearing were stronger in countries with a more individualistic culture. The study provides evidence for theorizing social normative influence beyond the individual level and underscores the importance of incorporating multilevel factors in social norm research.
社会规范可以在个人和社会层面进行研究。虽然个人感知规范对健康行为的影响已经得到充分证明，但社会层面因素在社会规范影响中的作用仍不清楚。我们采用多水平方法研究了个体感知规范、国家集体规范和个人主义文化对 COVID-19 大流行期间戴口罩行为的影响。对从 23 个国家（=450,223）收集的横断面数据进行了二次分析。研究结果表明，感知描述性规范、感知规范性规范和集体规范共同影响戴口罩行为。在集体规范较高的国家，感知描述性规范和规范性规范与戴口罩之间的正相关关系更强。此外，规范（即感知描述性规范、感知规范性规范和集体规范）与戴口罩之间的正相关关系在个人主义文化程度较高的国家更强。该研究为超越个体层面的社会规范影响理论提供了证据，并强调了在社会规范研究中纳入多层次因素的重要性。
