Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

12-2021

Abstract

Norm enforcement may be important for resolving conflicts and promoting cooperation. However, little is known about how preferred responses to norm violations vary across cultures and across domains. In a preregistered study of 57 countries (using convenience samples of 22,863 students and non-students), we measured perceptions of the appropriateness of various responses to a violation of a cooperative norm and to atypical social behaviors. Our findings highlight both cultural universals and cultural variation. We find a universal negative relation between appropriateness ratings of norm violations and appropriateness ratings of responses in the form of confrontation, social ostracism and gossip. Moreover, we find the country variation in the appropriateness of sanctions to be consistent across different norm violations but not across different sanctions. Specifically, in those countries where use of physical confrontation and social ostracism is rated as less appropriate, gossip is rated as more appropriate.

Keywords

Norm enforcement, norm violation, cultural variations, social ostracism

Discipline

Cognition and Perception | Multicultural Psychology | Social Psychology

Research Areas

Psychology

Publication

Nature Communications

Volume

12

Issue

1

First Page

1

Last Page

11

ISSN

2041-1723

Identifier

10.1038/s41467-021-21602-9

Publisher

Nature Research

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21602-9

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