The silence of the library: Environment, situational norm, and social behavior.
Abstract
On the basis of the idea that situational norms are mentally represented as associations between environments and normative behavior, it was proposed that an environment can automatically direct normative behavior. More specifically, when situational norms are well-established (e.g., when entering the library, one should be silent), an environment is capable of automatically activating mental representations of normative behavior and the behavior itself. In these experiments, participants were exposed to pictures of environments, and effects on accessibility of representations of normative behavior and on actual behavior were assessed. Results indicated that representations of behavior and actual behavior itself are activated automatically when (a) goals to visit the environment are active and (b) strong associations between environment and normative behavior are established.
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Social norms not only spur but also guide action in direct and meaningful ways.
“the research has clearly established that social norms not only spur but also guide action in direct and meaningful ways (Aarts & Dijksterhuis, 2003;Cialdini, Kallgren, & Reno, 1991;Darley & Latane´, 1970;Goldstein, Cialdini, & Griskevicius, 2006;Kerr, 1995;Terry & Hogg, 2001).”
From The Constructive, Destructive, and Reconstructive Power of Social Norms (2007) · cites this paper as Aarts & Dijksterhuis, 2003
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- Authors
- Aarts, H., & Dijksterhuis, A.
- Affiliations
- Utrecht University (NL)
- University of Amsterdam (NL)
- ORCID
- Aarts, Henk
- Venue
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- Published
- 2003
- Volume
- 84
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 18-28
- ISSN
- 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1315
- OpenAlex
- W2147126411
- Cited by
- 624
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 33 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 32 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 40 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 29 · 2012: 43
- FWCI
- 15.87
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (publishedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Psychology of Social Influence
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- automatic activation, mental representation, normative behavior, environmental cues, goal-directed behavior, associative learning, social behavior
- MeSH terms
- Affect, Habits, Humans, Libraries, Noise, Random Allocation, Social Behavior, Social Environment, Social Responsibility, Voice
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