With friends like these? How groups influence our behaviour for better...or for worse

Abstract

As social animals, we are influenced every day in many ways by the myriad of groups to which we belong. Our behaviour does not occur in a vacuum but is inextricably linked to the norms of our groups.

In this seminar, I will discuss work that explores the distinction between descriptive norms (what others do) and injunctive norms (what others endorse) and how these two sources of normative influence interact to influence behaviour in both health and sustainability domains.

Using both experimental and survey methods, and testing the impact of real-world campaigns, this work shows that these sources of norms do not simply cancel each other out when in conflict, but that behaviour is shaped more by the (negative) descriptive norm than the (positive) injunctive norm.

I will discuss the implications of this for how we can harness the power of groups to change individual behaviour and close the attitude-action gap.

Finally, I will introduce a recent theoretical development - the Social Identity Model of Behavioural Associations - which attempts to integrate social identity theory with learning theory to explain how group-based behaviour emerges, is maintained, and might be changed.