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The evolutionary emergence of norms
Author(s) -
Opp KarlDieter
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
british journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 2044-8309
pISSN - 0144-6665
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8309.1982.tb00522.x
Subject(s) - norm (philosophy) , social institution , enforcement , social psychology , institution , variety (cybernetics) , psychology , positive economics , sociology , economics , political science , social science , law , artificial intelligence , computer science
Norms may emerge in a variety of ways: institutions may prescribe behaviours (institutional norm formation), they may be created by a social contract (voluntary norm formation) or they may gradually emerge without either bargaining or the involvement of a norm‐making institution (evolutionary norm formation). The central concern of this paper is to formulate hypotheses specifying conditions for the evolutionary emergence of norms. A process is described, starting with recurrent behaviour, leading to the development of preferences for a behaviour, and ultimately to the acceptance of norms (internalization) and the enforcement of activities. The present analysis employs the behavioural model of economics and research findings from social psychology and sociology.