Perceived Social Norms under Uncertainty
TLDR
This paper introduces a belief-based framework for social norms, allowing individuals to be uncertain about what is appropriate and how information shapes their perceptions.
Key contributions
- Proposes a belief-based framework for social norms under individual uncertainty.
- Relaxes the common knowledge assumption about what is appropriate in social settings.
- Connects injunctive norms, personal values, and empirical expectations via an informational structure.
- Clarifies how public/private information disclosure shapes perceived social norms.
Why it matters
This framework offers a more realistic understanding of social norms by accounting for individual uncertainty and diverse beliefs. It clarifies how information, public or private, shapes perceived social acceptability, providing crucial insights for understanding social dynamics and designing interventions.
Original Abstract
This paper proposes a belief-based framework for social norms in environments where individuals choose a single action. Relaxing the assumption that what is appropriate is common knowledge, this framework allows individuals to be uncertain about it, and to hold heterogeneous assessments and beliefs about others' assessments. Within this framework, perceived injunctive social norm, personal values, and empirical expectations, while distinct, are systematically connected through an informational structure. The framework further clarifies how provided information shapes perceived norms: its effect depends on what is disclosed, whether it is publicly or privately revealed, and how the disclosed object encodes underlying information.
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