Norms and Status in Groups Outline  Norms  Norm Development  Analyzing Class Norms  Responding to Norm Violations  Status Basics  Achieved Status  Ascribed Status

Acceptable standards of behavior within a group that are adopted and shared by the group’s members Norms

Norms  Norms  Accepted ways of thinking, feeling, behaving  Shared expectations about how the members of a group ought to behave  Why do we follow norms?  Make life easier  Rewards for following norms  Internalization of norms

Descriptive Norms  Rules for what is commonly done or thought in a situation e.g., kinds of clothes, rules of conversation, certain aspects of beauty  Descriptive norms are great for fitting in  What is the downside of “fitting in?”  Mob mentality  Pluralistic ignorance  Pluralistic ignorance  When people’s beliefs about the descriptive norm do match reality

Injunctive Norms  Description of what is allowed or commonly approved/disapproved of in a situation  What you “should do” instead of what people “typically do”

Norms and Littering  Descriptive norms  People little more in a dirty parking garage than a clean parking garage  Dirty parking garage provides evidence that littering there is what people do  Injunctive norms  Less likely to litter after observing someone pick up a piece of litter: reminds you what you should do

Results of an experiment on norms concerning littering. The prior existence of litter in a public setting implies that littering is acceptable. This encourages others to “trash” the area. (From Cialdini, Reno, & Kallgren, 1990.)

 A. Norm of reciprocity  When someone provides you with a benefit, it is appropriate for you to return the favor  EXAMPLE: Regan (1971)  “Coke” study  B. Norm of social commitment  Keeping our promises and honoring our commitments  C. Conforming to group norms  Tendency to follow attitudes and behavior of the group

Group Norms: Cooperation vs Competition  Norms of cooperation  Norms encouraging members to support each other toward the achievement of the goals  Has positive benefits  Norms of competition  Norms supportive of members seeking personal goals at the expense of other members  Often originates in leaders reward structure  Individualistic vs collectivist cultures  Between groups vs within group competition

Group Norms: Productivity Norms  Production norms  Norms specifying how hard to work and how much to produce  Norms favoring production when  group’s identity is congruent with high production  group has shared goals related to production  personal goals are tied to group goals  group likes and values the leadership  Hawthorne studies

 EXAMPLE: Sherif's (1936) autokinetic effect studies Norm Development

Autokinetic effect: the stationary dot of light will seem to move It moved about 3.5 inches

What if people make their judgments with others, and state estimates aloud? Looks like 1 inch I’d say 2 inches7.5 inches

A norm develops! Initially, they differ; but over trials, they converge Person A Person B Person C Convergence Alone Group Session 1 Group Session 3 Group Session 2 Average distance estimates

Analyzing the Norms of our Class Let’s say a new student joined our classroom right now and to ease their entrance into the class group, you and your group have to provide them with a handbook about the group’s norms. Create two lists of specific class norms for this student, one of formal norms and one of informal norms. Include common penalties delivered to group members that violate the norms. What other norms should our class consider adopting to deal with any problem member behaviors or inefficiencies in how the class works.

Responding to Norm Violations in the Group  Likely consequences:  1) Once a member violates a norm, others will take it as permission to violate it as well  2) People may become angry with the leader if s/he doesn’t respond to norm violations  Members are most likely to abide by a norm if:  they had a say in deciding on the norm  they understand and accept the reasons behind it

Status Basics  Status  Individuals’ positions in a hierarchy of power relations within a social group  3 major components  Asymmetrical amounts of attention  Differential amounts of respect and esteem  Differential amounts of influence

Status Basics  Status system  Distribution of power and prestige  Status hierarchy often reflected in official structure  Achieved status  Status that is earned  Ascribed status  Status that is bestowed based on some prestigious/powerful characteristic

Status Markers  Nonverbal and verbal behaviors that signify status  Standing up straight  Maintaining strong eye contact  Speaking in a firm voice  Speaking the most  Criticizing, commanding, and interrupting others  Domineering/directive behaviors  Firm handshake

Achieved Status  Earn status by helping group achieve goal and by sacrificing for group  Path to earning status depends on group  Earning status involves ‘working their way up’ the status hierarchy  High status are often those who have been in the group longest

Status Dues System  What the group requires of members before they are awarded higher status  New members must pay dues  Status violation  When low status members act as if they have high status before they pay their dues

Your Experience with Status Dues Systems  Think of the groups you have been a member of. Identify any status dues that had to be paid and what happened to new group members who failed to understand the group’s status dues systems

Ascribed Status  Individuals are often assigned high status merely by looking and acting like they are high status  e.g., by displaying status markers  Two views on attaining status in groups  The Ethological Approach  Expectation States Theory

The Ethological Approach

Ethological approach  Approach that suggests stronger humans are assigned high status in the group  Strength determined by  Size  Musculature  Facial expressions  etc…  Status contests are common  Negotiating status through verbal acts, gestures, and postures

Expectation States Theory  Status is determined by expectations group members have of each members ability and potential to contribute to the group  These expectations are: Performance Expectations  Performance expectations affect  Extent to which members look to other members for contributions  Perceptions regarding the value of members contributions  Who wins in the case of a disagreement

Status Characteristics  Specific-status characteristics  Skill or experience related status characteristics  Diffuse-status characteristics  Demographically derived (and visually obvious) status characteristics, such as age, ethnicity, gender, or attractiveness

How Did you Learn Norms as a New Group Member?  Describe your experiences as a new group member in an established group and the process by which you learned the norms of the group.  For instance, consider experiences such as taking a new job, joining an existing club, moving from one parent’s home to another, or being a new member of a romantic partner’s family group.  What might the group have done to help you learn the norms more quickly?