The Pros And Cons Of Social Norms

Introduction

“The human capacity to establish and enforce social norms is perhaps the decisive reason for the uniqueness of human cooperation in the animal world.” (Fehr and Fischbacher 2004) Social norms can be defined as the standards and rules that are mutually understood by members of a group, which shape and/or constrain social behaviour without the force of laws, when multiple equilibria are present. Social norms are social constructs which may be used to explain human behaviour and can determine how members of groups or societies dress, speak and interact with one another. In addition to commonly accepted rules of encouraged behaviour, social norms can also form taboos against social behaviour such as infanticide. (Cialdini and Trost

When choosing to maintain norms, they claim that individuals will perform a cost-benefit analysis, weighing up the pros and cons of choosing to either uphold or break a norm. (Fehr and Gintis 2007) In order for individuals to maintain norms they dislike or have no value attachment to, it is argued that there must be some good reason. (Bicchieri and Fukui, 1999) Specific conditions must exist in order for social order to be maintained. A number of rational choice theorists have put forward theories to explain the maintenance of social order through social

When group solidarity is high, a meta-norm emerges where group members reward those who punish deviance. She proposes that individuals reward someone who sanctions as they do not want to risk losing the relationship. If they fail to reward, and another group member chooses to do so, the punisher is likely to switch loyalty in the future. Exchange is more profitable in cohesive groups and member would prefer other members to be well-off in order to maximise benefits through trade. Cohesion increases the rewards given to those who punish deviance and therefore incentivises members to sanction, continuing the maintenance of the social norm. (Horne