The Spreading of Disorder
Version:1 / 1 Updated Date:11/11/2014 Original Contributor:Jake Frederick Latest Contributor:Jake Frederick
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Key Words
Norm, Disorder, Crime
Background / Metatheory:
This theory is based on an idea called “Broken Window Theory” (BWT) which basically says that disorder triggers more disorder and crime. The logic behind the original idea says: “if a lot of people are doing this, it’s probably a wise thing to do.”
Injunctive_norms provide information about what behavior is most appropriate in a situation. For example, it is commonly agreed upon that littering is bad (and illegal)—so it is an “injunctive norm” to not litter.
Descriptive_norms provide information about what behavior is most common in in a given situation. For example, seeing lots of litter shows that, in this time and place, it is common for people to litter. Here, it is a “descriptive norm” to litter.
Keizer, Lindenberg, and Steg (2008) Science 322, pp. 1681.
Terms & Definitions:
- appropriateness_goal - an outcome in which P conforms to injunctive norms.
- descriptive_norm - the perception of common (dis)approval of a particular behavior common in a setting
- disorder - situations in which injunctive norms and descriptive norms are in conflict.
- gain_goal - an outcome that increases P’s resources.
- hedonic_goal - an outcome that makes P immediately feel good.
- injunctive_norm - the perception of common (dis)approval of a particular kind of behavior
Scope Conditions:
- Consequences for norm violation cannot be too severe, obvious, salient, and present.
Propositions:
- Observing disorder weakens P's desire to pursue appropriateness_goals.
- Weakening the desire to pursue one of the three types of goals, strengthens the desire to pursue the other two.
- Strengthening the desire to pursue hedonic_goals increases P's tendency to break injunctive_norms.
- Strengthening the desire to pursue gain_goals increases P's tendency to break injunctive_norms.
Derivations:
- The more disorder P observes in a situation, the more likely P will break injunctive_norms for immediate satisfaction or resources.
Evidence:
Keizer, Lindenberg, and Steg (2008) Science 322, pp. 1681.
