Editing Social norm (section)

== Behavior ==
Whereas ideas in general do not necessarily have behavioral implications, Martha Finnemore notes that "norms by definition concern behavior.  One could say that they are collectively held ideas about behavior."<ref name=":3" />

Norms running counter to the behaviors of the overarching society or culture may be transmitted and maintained within small subgroups of society. For example, Crandall (1988) noted that certain groups (e.g., [[cheerleading]] squads, dance troupes, sports teams, sororities) have a rate of [[bulimia]], a publicly recognized life-threatening disease, that is much higher than society as a whole. Social norms have a way of maintaining order and organizing groups.<ref name="haung">{{cite journal |last1=Huang |first1=Peter H. |last2=Wu |first2=Ho-Mou |title=More Order Without More Law: A Theory of Social Norms and Organizational Cultures |journal=The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization |volume=10 |issue=2 |date=October 1994 |pages=390–406 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.jleo.a036856 |ssrn=5412 }}</ref>

In the field of social psychology, the roles of norms are emphasized—which can guide behavior in a certain situation or environment as "mental representations of appropriate behavior".<ref name="aarts & dijksterhuis/">{{cite journal|last1=Aarts|first1=H.|last2=Dijksterhuis|first2=A.|year=2003|title=The silence of the library: Environment, situational norm, and social behavior|url=http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ad40/b8e597428b4164d99630f9ca03eae1b5c257.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709175827/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ad40/b8e597428b4164d99630f9ca03eae1b5c257.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2020-07-09|journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology|volume=84|issue=1|pages=18–28|doi=10.1037/0022-3514.84.1.18|pmid=12518968|s2cid=18213113}}</ref> It has been shown that normative messages can promote [[pro-social behavior]], including decreasing alcohol use,<ref name="collins, carey, & sliwinski">{{cite journal|last1=Collins|first1=S. E.|last2=Carey|first2=K. B.|last3=Sliwinski|first3=M. J.|year=2002|title=Mailed personalized normative feedback as a brief intervention for at-risk college drinkers|journal=Journal of Studies on Alcohol|volume=63|issue=5|pages=559–567|doi=10.15288/jsa.2002.63.559|pmid=12380852}}</ref> increasing voter turnout,<ref name="gerber & rogers">{{cite journal|last1=Gerber|first1=A. S.|last2=Rogers|first2=T.|year=2009|title=Descriptive social norms and motivation to vote: everybody's voting and so should you|journal=The Journal of Politics|volume=71|issue=1|pages=178–191|citeseerx=10.1.1.691.37|doi=10.1017/s0022381608090117|s2cid=10783035}}</ref> and reducing energy use.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Brandon|first1=Alec|last2=List|first2=John A.|last3=Metcalfe|first3=Robert D.|last4=Price|first4=Michael K.|last5=Rundhammer|first5=Florian|date=19 March 2019|title=Testing for crowd out in social nudges: Evidence from a natural field experiment in the market for electricity|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=116|issue=12|pages=5293–5298|doi=10.1073/pnas.1802874115|pmc=6431171|pmid=30104369|bibcode=2019PNAS..116.5293B |doi-access=free}}</ref> According to the psychological definition of social norms' behavioral component, norms have two dimensions: how much a behavior is exhibited, and how much the group approves of that behavior.<ref name="jackson">Jackson, J. (1965). "Structural characteristics of norms". In I.D. Steiner & M. Fishbein (Eds.), ''Current studies in social psychology'' (pp. 301-309).</ref>