arrow
Return

When norm change hurts

delete2024-01-22
delete8
delete
OA
AI
C
Charles Efferson
L
Lukas von Flüe
S
Sonja Vogt *
DOI:10.1098/rstb.2023.0039delete
deleteOriginal
deleteOriginal request for help
deleteShare
deleteSave
Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
Applied cultural evolution includes any effort to mobilize social learning and cultural evolution to promote behaviour change. Social tipping is one version of this idea based on conformity and coordination. Conformity and coordination can reinforce a harmful social norm, but they can also accelerate change from a harmful norm to a beneficial alternative. Perhaps unfortunately, the link between the size of an intervention and social tipping is complex in heterogeneous populations. A small intervention targeted at one segment of society can induce tipping better than a large intervention targeted at a different segment. We develop and examine two models showing that the link between social tipping and social welfare is also complex in heterogeneous populations. An intervention strategy that creates persistent miscoordination, exactly the opposite of tipping, can lead to higher social welfare than another strategy that leads to tipping. We show that the potential benefits of miscoordination often hinge specifically on the preferences of people most resistant to behaviour change. Altogether, ordinary forms of heterogeneity complicate applied cultural evolution considerably. Heterogeneity weakens both the link between the size of a social planner's intervention and behaviour change and the link between behaviour change and the well-being of society.This article is part of the theme issue 'Social norm change: drivers and consequences'.
Keywords:
social tipping
behaviour change
coordination
conformity
social norms

Journal

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences cover
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences
IF:
4.7
Papers:
8.7K
Citations:
5.6W

Organization

U
University of Lausanne
Scholars:
2.5W
Papers: 2.0W
Citations: 3.0W
Cited Papers

Cited Papers

The collective dynamics of smoking in a large social network
err2008-05-22
err1.8K
errOAAI
errChristakis, Nicholas A.; Fowler, James H.
errShare
errSave
Scaling Up Change: A Critical Review and Practical Guide to Harnessing Social Norms for Climate Action
err2022-10-13
err84
PREAI
errConstantino, Sara M.; Sparkman, Gregg; Kraft-Todd, Gordon T.; Bicchieri, Cristina; Centola, Damon; Shell-Duncan, Bettina; Vogt, Sonja; Weber, Elke U.
errShare
errSave
Female genital cutting is not a social coordination norm
errSCIENCE
IF45.8
err2015-09-25
err64
PREAI
errEfferson, Charles; Vogt, Sonja; Elhadi, Amy; Ahmed, Hilal El Fadil; Fehr, Ernst
errShare
errSave
A Simple Effective Stress Approach for Modeling Rate-Dependent Strength of Soft Clay
err2018-01-09
err0
PREAI
errJiang Tao Yi; Yu Ping Li; Shan Bai; Yong Fu; Fook Hou Lee; Xi Ying Zhang
errShare
errSave
Tespa1 is a novel inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate receptor binding protein in T and B lymphocytes
err2012-09-04
err0
errOAAI
errHiroshi Matsuzaki; Takahiro Fujimoto; Takeharu Ota; Masahiro Ogawa; Toshiyuki Tsunoda; Keiko Doi; Masato Hamabashiri; Masatoshi Tanaka; Senji Shirasawa
errShare
errSave
errShare
errSave
researcher View more