Perceptions of the appropriate response to norm violation in 57 societies

• Published in: Nature communications 2021-03, Vol.12 (1), p.1481-1481, Article 1481
• Main Authors: Eriksson, Kimmo, Strimling, Pontus, Gelfand, Michele, Wu, Junhui, Aldashev, Alisher, Andrighetto, Giulia, Anum, Adote, Aycan, Zeynep, Bagherian, Fatemeh, Basnight-Brown, Dana, Batkeyev, Birzhan, Belaus, Anabel, Berezina, Elizaveta, Björnstjerna, Marie, Boski, Paweł, Bou Zeineddine, Fouad, Bovina, Inna, Huyen, Bui Thi Thu, Cardenas, Juan-Camilo, Čekrlija, Đorđe, Choi, Hoon-Seok, Contreras-Ibáñez, Carlos C., Costa-Lopes, Rui, de Barra, Mícheál, de Zoysa, Piyanjali, Dorrough, Angela, Dvoryanchikov, Nikolay, Eller, Anja, Engelmann, Jan B., Euh, Hyun, Fang, Xia, Fiedler, Susann, Foster-Gimbel, Olivia A., Fülöp, Márta, Gardarsdottir, Ragna B., Gill, C. M. Hew D., Glöckner, Andreas, Graf, Sylvie, Grigoryan, Ani, Gritskov, Vladimir, Growiec, Katarzyna, Halama, Peter, Hartanto, Andree, Hopthrow, Tim, Hřebíčková, Martina, Iliško, Dzintra, Imada, Hirotaka, Kapoor, Hansika, Kawakami, Kerry, Khachatryan, Narine, Kharchenko, Natalia, Khoury, Ninetta, Kiyonari, Toko, Kohút, Michal, Linh, Lê Thuỳ, Leslie, Lisa M., Li, Yang, Li, Norman P., Li, Zhuo, Liik, Kadi, Maitner, Angela T., Manhique, Bernardo, Manley, Harry, Medhioub, Imed, Mentser, Sari, Mohammed, Linda, Nejat, Pegah, Nipassa, Orlando, Nussinson, Ravit, Onyedire, Nneoma G., Onyishi, Ike E., Özden, Seniha, Panagiotopoulou, Penny, Perez-Floriano, Lorena R., Pheko, Mpho, Pirttilä-Backman, Anna-Maija, Pogosyan, Marianna, Raver, Jana, Reyna, Cecilia, Rodrigues, Ricardo Borges, Romanò, Sara, Romero, Pedro P., Sakki, Inari, San Martin, Alvaro, Sherbaji, Sara, Shimizu, Hiroshi, Szabo, Erna, Takemura, Kosuke, Tieffi, Hassan, Mendes Teixeira, Maria Luisa, Thanomkul, Napoj, Tiliouine, Habib, Travaglino, Giovanni A., Tsirbas, Yannis, Wan, Richard, Widodo, Sita, Zein, Rizqy, Zhang, Qing-peng, Zirganou-Kazolea, Lina, Van Lange, Paul A. M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/477/2811; 704/844/1759; Attention; Comprehension; Female; Gossip; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Judgment; Male; multidisciplinary; Negotiating; Ostracism; Perception; Ratings; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Social Behavior; Social Norms; Social Support; Students; Value of Life; Violations; Violence
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21602-9

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. Little is known about people’s preferred responses to norm violations across countries. Here, in a study of 57 countries, the authors highlight cultural similarities and differences in people’s perception of the appropriateness of norm violations.