Download Changing attitudes and behaviour

Changing attitudes and behaviour

Joanne R. Smith Anna Rabinovich

What are norms? • Norm = the accepted or implied rules of how individuals and group members should and do think and behave • Two types of norms: • What other people do (descriptive norm) • What other people approve of (injunctive norm)

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Descriptive norms and change • Descriptive norms form the basis of many behaviour change campaigns

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Descriptive norms and change • But normative messages may create a psychological backlash that undermines campaign efforts • Descriptive norm messages can actually increase levels of problem behaviour “Many people are doing this bad thing”

“Many people are doing this”

“I won’t be doing the right thing”

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Percentage of environmental theft

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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0 1 “Many past visitors have taken the petrified wood”

“Many2 past visitors have left the petrified wood”

Injunctive norms and change • Can we use injunctive norms to effect behaviour change?

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Injunctive norms and change • But injunctive norms may also produce a psychological backlash that undermines campaign efforts • Injunctive norm messages can actually decrease levels of desired behaviour “We’re not doing X”

“You should be doing X”

“I won’t be doing X”

Pro-environmental intentions

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6 4 1 “85% think you should do X”

2 “85% are doing X”

Norms and change • So, what is the message for behaviour change agents? • 1. Framing of normative messages must be correct

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Norms and change • So, what is the message for behaviour change agents? • 2. Harness the power of both descriptive and injunctive norms DN absent

DN present

Sun protection behaviour

6.5

DN = Most do X IN = Most approve of X

5.5

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4.5 IN absent

IN present

Summary and Implications • Communicating that a behaviour is normative for a group of people can produce desired behaviour change • “We engage in the behaviour and we approve of the behaviour”

• By linking norms to different identities, we can harness the power of both norms and social identities to promote positive behaviour

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Self-categorization theory • People adopt the same norms and values that are ascribed to the groups they belong to • Group norms and values are defined on the basis of comparison with other groups • What we conclude about ourselves depends on inter-group comparative context We are not like them

They are “green”

We are NOT “green”

I am like others in my group I am not “green”, I won’t behave sustainably 11

I am not like them

Hypotheses • Positive comparison leads to increase in env. behaviour • Negative inter-group comparison leads to decrease in env. behaviour Comparison with un-environmental group

“Green” in-group stereotype

Proenvironmental behaviour

Comparison with pro-environmental group

“Non-green” ingroup stereotype

Unenvironmental behaviour 12

Comparative context: group stereotype 4.4

in-group environmental stereotype

4.3 4.2 4.1 4 3.9 3.8 3.7 3.6 3.5 3.4

American

control

Swedish

• In-group environmental stereotype is stronger in the positive13 comparison context

Comparative context: intentions 3.4 3.3

environmental intentions

3.2 3.1 3 2.9 2.8 2.7 2.6 2.5

American

control

Swedish

• Environmental intentions are stronger in the positive comparison context

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Applied implications • Inter-group comparison standard can be used to stimulate desirable behaviour • Negative comparison may undermine desirable intentions • Desirable changes can be stimulated by providing a positive comparison standard • Behaviour change does not have to start at an individual level… 15