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Self‐regulated studying behavior, and the social norms that influence it
Author(s) -
Eyink Julie R.,
Motz Benjamin A.,
Heltzel Gordon,
Liddell Torrin M.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/jasp.12637
Subject(s) - social norms approach , psychology , norm (philosophy) , social psychology , influencer marketing , control (management) , descriptive statistics , statistics , business , mathematics , marketing , neuroscience , political science , relationship marketing , law , perception , marketing management , management , economics
Teachers commonly use injunctive norms when telling students what they should be doing. But researchers find that sometimes descriptive norms, information about what others are actually doing, are more powerful influencers of behavior. In the present work, we examine which norm is more effective at increasing self‐regulated studying and performance in an online college course across two semesters. To do this, we randomly assigned 751 undergraduate Introductory Psychology students to receive email messages at the start of every content unit that either contained descriptive norms, injunctive norms, information about the course, or a no message control. We found that injunctive norms increased study behaviors aimed at fulfilling course requirements (completion of assigned activities), but did not improve learning outcomes. Descriptive norms increased behaviors aimed at improving knowledge (ungraded practice with activities after they were due), and improved performance. These results suggest that norms more effectively influence behavior when there is a match, or a sense of fit, between the goal of the behavior (fulfilling course requirements vs. learning) and the pull of a stated norm (social approval vs. efficacy). We discuss these implications with respect to students' motivations for self‐regulated studying behavior in contemporary learning environments, and the overall goals of education.