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Social psych-based tip:
If you want to change behaviour (e.g., people not keeping physical distance), be careful about the norm message you use
DON'T say: 'people should stay home/keep their distance'
Say: 'Most people are staying at home/keeping distance. Everyone should'
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If you want to change behaviour (e.g., people not keeping physical distance), be careful about the norm message you use
DON'T say: 'people should stay home/keep their distance'
Say: 'Most people are staying at home/keeping distance. Everyone should'
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I'm seeing a lot of people/news stories using variants of the first message, in response to an apparent failure of some people to heed all advice.
The problem is that we know this type of message has the potential to backfire.
Why? It contains *contradictory norm messages*
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The problem is that we know this type of message has the potential to backfire.
Why? It contains *contradictory norm messages*
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'People should stay at home/keep their distance'
Injunctive/prescriptive norm: People should stay at home
Descriptive norm: People *aren't* staying at home/keeping distance
People then do what (they think) others do, not what they *should* do
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Injunctive/prescriptive norm: People should stay at home
Descriptive norm: People *aren't* staying at home/keeping distance
People then do what (they think) others do, not what they *should* do
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Solution? Align the injunctive and descriptive norm message:
'The great majority are being responsible and staying home, just like everyone decent person should'
Robert Cialdini & colleagues have shown that this increases adherence to norm messages
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'The great majority are being responsible and staying home, just like everyone decent person should'
Robert Cialdini & colleagues have shown that this increases adherence to norm messages
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This isn't a panacea though. People who are highly invested in the behaviour and the identity it represents are likely to resist *any* effort to change (ingroup) norms
This is a big problem of the 'war effort' framing - it means that we need to defend our normal way of life
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This is a big problem of the 'war effort' framing - it means that we need to defend our normal way of life
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So, we must also affirm *alternative* norms that make soc distancing part of what 'we' do in a crisis
E.g., The British way is to look after others, hold our communities together under threat. To do so, we need to keep physical distance, etc.
H/T self-affirmation theory
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E.g., The British way is to look after others, hold our communities together under threat. To do so, we need to keep physical distance, etc.
H/T self-affirmation theory
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This is how we can more effectively make our new norms collective:
(1) define social distancing as normative injunctively AND descriptively
(2) affirm that this is consistent with broader ingroup/national values that define 'us'
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(1) define social distancing as normative injunctively AND descriptively
(2) affirm that this is consistent with broader ingroup/national values that define 'us'
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(3) Define those who transgress these norms as unrepresentative of 'us', injunctively AND descriptively
In sum, norm messages are vitally important in helping us collectively respond to crisis, but beware the risks of backlash if the norm message is not right
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In sum, norm messages are vitally important in helping us collectively respond to crisis, but beware the risks of backlash if the norm message is not right
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