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on Social Norms and Social Capital |
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Issue of 2024‒01‒08
ten papers chosen by Fabio Sabatini, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Lazuka, Volha (Lund University); Elwert, Annika (Lund University) |
| Abstract: | Sex education can impact pupils' sexual activity and convey the social norms regarding family formation and responsibility, which can have significant consequences to their future. To investigate the life-cycle effects of social norm transmission, this study draws on the introduction of comprehensive sex education in the curriculum of Swedish primary schools during the 1940s to the 1950s. Inspired by social-democratic values, sex education during this period taught students about abstinence, rational family planning choices, and the importance of taking social responsibility for their personal decisions. The study applies a state-of-the-art estimator of the difference-in-differences method to various outcomes of men and women throughout the life cycle. The results show that the reform affected most intended outcomes for men and women, ultimately decreasing gender inequality in earnings. The effects of the reform also extended to the succeeding generation of girls, encouraging them to choose a profession with prosocial responsibilities and engage in entrepreneurship. The findings suggest that social norms, internalized through school-based sex education, shape lifetime outcomes of individuals and their children in significant ways. |
| Keywords: | social norms, sex education, natural experiment, gender inequality, economic wellbeing, prosociality |
| JEL: | I25 J13 Z13 N34 P46 |
| Date: | 2023–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16622&r=soc |
| By: | Robert Mackay; Astghik Mavisakalyan; Yashar Tarverdi |
| Abstract: | Individuals are at their most mental plasticity in their impressionable years (ages 18-25 years) forming long-term attitudes and behaviours essential to functioning in a society, such as trust. In this paper we ask how exposure to natural disasters within the impressionable years may affect the formation of trust by matching data from over 1, 000 disaster occurrences with data from 88, 670 individuals across 36 African nations. |
| Keywords: | Natural disasters, Trust, Africa, Youth |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2023-143&r=soc |
| By: | Fabio GALEOTTI; Astrid HOPFENSITZ; César MANTILLA |
| Abstract: | One of the most challenging problems of society today is climate change. Faced with this problem, people must change the way they behave to mitigate the effects of climate change and adapt to them. Such change in behavior can be achieved through a normative shift, i.e., a change in the social norms that regulate people’s social interactions and behavior in a society or a group. Climate change education (CCE) can be a powerful tool to achieve this shift. In this paper, we conduct a systematic review (SR) of the literature on CCE, with the aim of offering a comprehensive overview of the empirical research in this field. We particularly emphasize studies that assess the effects of educational interventions on social norms. Specifically, we focus on studies that either measure actual behaviors or investigate individuals' beliefs regarding the prevalence or acceptability of these behaviors in a society or reference group. We identify 86 studies evaluating CCE interventions. Among these, only 19 look at the effects of CCE on norm-related beliefs or actual behavior. Among the 86 studies, we find a disproportionate focus on interventions conducted in high-income, less climate-vulnerable countries and urban populations, with a general absence of cross-country comparisons. Most studies also employ pre-post evaluations, which are more susceptible to demand effects and social desirability bias. Among the 18 studies that look at norms, only few of them provide a belief-based measure of social norms. The vast majority measures actual behavior, mainly in terms of recycling, trashing and energy saving. Most interventions involve activities aimed at engaging learners. Others focus on nudges (like stickers or posters). A minority is based on lectures, deliberative discussions and interaction with scientists or science in general. The results of this SR reveal important gaps in the literature and potential tensions that can inform future research in this area. |
| JEL: | Q |
| Date: | 2023–11–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:avg:wpaper:en16145&r=soc |
| By: | Ruenzi, Stefan; Maeckle, Kai |
| JEL: | I12 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc23:277574&r=soc |
| By: | Michela Boldrini; Pierluigi Conzo; Willem Sas; Roberto Zotti |
| Abstract: | In times of hardship, politicians often leverage citizens’ discontent and scapegoat minorities to obtain political support. This paper tests whether political campaigns scapegoating migrants for a health crisis affect social, political, and economic attitudes and behaviors. Through an online nationally-representative survey experiment in Italy, we analyze the effects of such narratives through information-provision treatments, which include facts also emphasizing the alleged health consequences of ongoing immigration. Results show that narratives associating immigration with health threats do not generate sizeable add-on effects compared to those based on immigration only. If anything, they increase disappointment towards co-nationals, reduce institutional trust, and undermine partisanship among extreme-right supporters. Results are consistent with a theoretical framework where party credibility and support, and institutional trust are influenced by political discourse. Our experiment underpins the prediction that political campaigns based on extreme narratives can be ineffective or socially and politically counterproductive, providing an example of how populism can backfire. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Pandemic crisis, Survey experiment, Socio-political attitudes, Institutional trust, Anti-immigrant narratives, Informational treatments, Political messaging, Populism |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cca:wpaper:700&r=soc |
| By: | Luise Goerges (Leuphana University Lüneburg); Tom Lane (Newcastle University); Daniele Nosenzo (Aarhus University); Silvia Sonderegger (University of Nottingham) |
| Abstract: | Building on findings showing that laws exert a causal effect on social norms, this paper investigates whether this “expressive power of law” differs by gender or race. We develop a model to show that such differences are theoretically plausible. We then use an incentivized vignette experiment to test whether these differences are empirically relevant. Results from an online sample of around 4000 subjects confirm that laws causally influence social norms. However, we find little evidence of a differential effect across gender or race, suggesting that gender and race biases in the legal system are driven by other mechanisms than differences in the expressive power of law. |
| Keywords: | Social Norms; Law; Expressive Function of Law; Gender Gap; Racial Bias |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:not:notcdx:2023-12&r=soc |
| By: | Yulia Evsyukova; Felix Rusche; Wladislaw Mill |
| Abstract: | We assess the impact of discrimination on Black individuals’ job networks in the U.S. using a two-stage field experiment with 400+ fictitious LinkedIn profiles. Varying race via A.I.-generated images only, we find that Black profiles’ connection requests are accepted at significantly lower rates (Stage I) and their networks provide less information (Stage II). Leveraging our experimental design to eliminate first-stage endogeneity, we identify gatekeeping as the key driver of Black-White disparities. Examining users’ CVs reveals widespread discrimination across different social groups and – contrary to expert predictions – less discrimination among men and older users. |
| Keywords: | Discrimination, Job Networks, Labor Markets, Field Experiment |
| JEL: | J71 J15 C93 J46 D85 |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2023_482&r=soc |
| By: | Hönow, Nils Christian; Pourviseh, Adrian |
| Abstract: | Communication is well known to increase cooperation rates in social dilemma situations, but the exact mechanisms behind this have been questioned and discussed. This study examines the impact of communication on public good provisioning in an artefactual field experiment conducted with 216 villagers from small, rural communities in northern Namibia. In line with previous experimental findings, we observe a strong increase in cooperation when face-to-face communication is allowed before decision making. We additionally introduce a condition in which participants cannot discuss the dilemma but talk to their group members about an unrelated topic prior to learning about the public good game. It turns out that this condition already leads to higher cooperation rates, albeit not as high as in the condition in which discussions about the social dilemma are possible. The setting in small communities also allows investigating the effect of pre-existing social relationships between group members and their interaction with communication. We find that both types of communication are primarily effective among socially more distant group members, which suggests that communication and social ties work as substitutes in increasing cooperation. Further analyses rule out better comprehension of the game and increased mutual expectations of one's group members' contributions as drivers for the communication effect. Finally, we discuss the role of personal and injunctive norms to keep commitments made during discussions. |
| Abstract: | Es ist bekannt, dass direkte, persönliche Kommunikation zwischen involvierten Personen die Kooperationsbereitschaft in sozialen Dilemmata merklich erhöht, jedoch sind die genauen Mechanismen dahinter noch nicht vollständig geklärt. Diese Studie untersucht die Auswirkungen von Kommunikation auf die Bereitstellung öffentlicher Güter ('Public Good Game') in einem Feldexperiment, das mit 216 Dorfbewohnerinnen und Dorfbewohnern aus kleinen, ländlichen Gemeinschaften im Norden Namibias durchgeführt wurde. In Übereinstimmung mit bestehenden Erkenntnissen beobachten wir einen starken Anstieg der Kooperation, wenn Gruppenmitglieder vor ihrer Entscheidung miteinander reden können. Darüber hinaus testen wir eine Bedingung, in der die Teilnehmenden nicht über das Dilemma reden können, sondern mit ihren Gruppenmitgliedern über ein anderes Thema ohne Bezug zum Public Good Game sprechen, bevor sie das Spiel kennenlernen. Es zeigt sich, dass diese Bedingung bereits zu mehr Kooperation führt, wenn auch nicht so stark wie in der Bedingung, in der Diskussionen über das soziale Dilemma möglich sind. Der Studienkontext in kleinen Gemeinschaften erlaubt es auch, die Auswirkungen bereits bestehender sozialer Beziehungen zwischen den Gruppenmitgliedern und deren Interaktion mit Kommunikation zu untersuchen. Wir stellen fest, dass beide Arten der Kommunikation vor allem bei sich weniger nahestehenden Gruppenmitgliedern wirksam sind, was darauf hindeutet, dass Kommunikation und soziale Bindungen als Substitute für die Steigerung von Kooperation wirken. Weitere Analysen schließen ein besseres Verständnis des Spiels und erhöhte gegenseitige Erwartungen an die Beiträge der Gruppenmitglieder als Erklärungen für den Effekt von Kommunikation aus. Schließlich erörtern wir die Rolle persönlicher und injunktiver Normen zur Einhaltung getroffener Absprachen. |
| Keywords: | Communication, cooperation, field experiment, public good, social ties |
| JEL: | C71 C93 D8 D9 H41 Q5 Z1 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:280402&r=soc |
| By: | J. Bonan; C. Cattaneo; G. d’Adda; A. Galliera; M. Tavoni |
| Abstract: | We study the introduction of a social information program on waste disposal in a setting characterized by varying economic incentives. Households pay for unsorted waste a fixed amount if their yearly disposal is below a pre-defined cap, and pay per disposal after exceeding the cap. We randomise the receipt of a report informing customers of their disposal relative to that of similar neighbours. An additional treatment couples the social comparison with information on the customer’s disposal cap. We find that the report containing the social norm alone leads to a 7% reduction in the volume of unsorted waste, while making the cap salient reduces the effectiveness of the social norm. Both types of treatments have the same effect on the likelihood of exceeding the disposal cap. The reduction in unsorted waste is partly achieved through an increase in waste sorting, and is not accompanied by any increase in illegal disposals or a decrease in the quality of sorted waste. Our results confirm the effectiveness of descriptive norms in coordinating behaviour in a novel decision domain and in the absence of economic benefits resulting from changing behaviour. They indicate that their effectiveness as focal points is undermined by the provision of alternative reference points. |
| Keywords: | Field experiments, household waste, social norm, norm-based feedback |
| JEL: | C93 D90 Q53 |
| Date: | 2023–12–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csl:devewp:490&r=soc |
| By: | Jacopo Bonan; Sergiu Burlacu; Arianna Galliera |
| Abstract: | We investigate the consistency of prosocial behaviors in response to changes in the in- stitutional setting of a lab-in-the-field experiment involving primary school students in El Salvador. Students play variants of the dictator game allowing the option to take and with relative unequal initial endowments. We exploit within-subject variation and find that children are sensitive to the enlargement of the choice-set, with a significant drop in the offers when the take option becomes available. Higher cognitive skills are systematically associated with higher levels of prosociality and lower sensitivity to changes in the choice set. However they do not correlate with responses to relative unequal initial endowments. Children, irrespective of their cognitive skills levels, care about equality and converge to a similar split of the final payoff, regardless of the initial inequality in the endowment, consistent with inequality aver- sion. The relationship between individual traits in childhood and the degree of consistency of prosocial behaviors appears to vary depending on the type of institutional change in the dictator game. |
| Keywords: | prosocial behavior, preference consistency, choice-set, cognitive skills, inequality aversion, El Salvador |
| JEL: | D91 C91 |
| Date: | 2022–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csl:devewp:478&r=soc |