Introduction Situational Norm : Luc Venedam, Marie Randall, Zackary MacQueen, David Nippard, Jenna Pitts. “Positive Priming Effects on Mood”

What is a “norm”? Myers, Spencer, and Jordan (2012)….. norm- A rule for accepted behaviour, and that norms prescribe proper behaviour.

Aarts and Dijksterhus (2003).  Explored how individuals would react when exposed to pictures of certain environments. -Can environments automatically direct ones normative behaviour?

Joly, Lindenberg, and Staple (2010)…. Can an environment evoke the relevance of social norms that apply to that environment? – Could a restaurant setting trigger table manners? – Could a library trigger the norm to become silent?

Purpose – When an individual is primed with a positive environment, it will have a positive impact on their overall mood.

Method Participants 100 ST.FX Students, male and female, years old Materials Survey consisting of 20 statements, along with Likert scale 2 Priming Paragraphs Experimental group: Birthday Party(positive words) Control group: Stock Market Trends(neutral words)

Example of Mood Survey: In the following questions circle the level that best describes your mood. At this current time I feel:

Procedure 1.Randomly Assigned into 2 groups 2.Each group given priming paragraphs 3.Each group completed the survey 4.After the survey was complete both groups were debriefed and thanked 5.Data was collected and the mean of each groups mood was found

Results Experimental condition – scored higher after being primed with positive words associating with a positive environment – Consistent positive mood across all participants within this condition Control condition - mood prior to entering experiment remained the same after the experiment due to the lack of a priming condition - unchanged mood lead to a variety of moods across participants

Limitations Lacking generalizability – Not a variety of students/all students Personal survey – Observed – Validity

Future Research More than just a paragraph – Context changes Variety of ages – Change depending on age? Cultural differences – Depending on the culture

Questions/Comments?