Open AccessChildren across societies enforce conventional norms but in culturally variable ways
Author(s) -
Patricia Kanngießer,
Marie Schäfer,
Eva Herrmann,
Henriette Zeidler,
Daniel B. M. Haun,
Michael Tomasello
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2112521118
Subject(s) - social psychology , psychology , enforcement , psychological intervention , scale (ratio) , style (visual arts) , peer group , norm (philosophy) , nonverbal communication , developmental psychology , political science , law , physics , archaeology , quantum mechanics , psychiatry , history
Significance Humans, as compared with other animals, create and follow conventional norms that determine how we greet each other, dress, or play certain games. Conventional norms are universal in all human societies, but it is an open question whether individuals in all societies also actively enforce conventional norms when others in their group break them. We show that 5- to 8-y-old children from eight highly diverse societies enforced conventional norms (i.e., game rules) when they observed a peer who apparently broke them. Magnitude and style of enforcement varied across societies. Third-party enforcement of conventional norms appears to be a human universal that is expressed in culturally variable ways.