Social Norms Jargon Buster

Social norms

The perceived informal, mostly unwritten, rules that define acceptable and appropriate actions within a given group or community.

Empirical expectations

“What I think others do” in relation to the social norm

Normative expectations

“What others expect me to do”

Injunctive norms

A norm you are expected to follow and expects others to follow

Descriptive norms

What you think others are doing

Pluralistic ignorance

A wrong perception of what others think/do; when people mistakenly believe that everyone else holds a different opinion than their own.

Sanctions

How others react if people do not conform to the norm – the consequences of going against the norm.

Reference group

The people who shape/influence the norm

Exceptions

Under what situations it is acceptable to break the norm

Patriarchy

The social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. Men hold more decision-making power than women.

Gender norms

A specific set of social norms that relate to relations between genders.

Positive deviant

A person/group that goes against a social norm that we see as negative for our mission. These can be leveraged to achieve change.

Vignette

Short stories about imaginary characters in specific contexts, with questions that invite participants to respond to the story in a structured way. You can use them to gather insights or to evaluate changes you are seeing following an activity.

Attitudes

What an individual thinks and feels about a behaviour or practice. While social norms are socially motivated (= linked to one’s perception of what others do or expect), attitudes are individually motivated, and focus on individual beliefs. Attitudes can be aligned to norms, but they can also be in opposition to them. The strength of the norm will determine to what extent a person will engage in a practice that is not aligned to their attitude. Attitudes can influence whether a person conforms to a norm or not; however, they are not in and of themselves norms.

Example: Attitude: “I think that girls should get married shortly after reaching puberty.” Linked norm: “I think that most girls in my community get married shortly after reaching puberty.”