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SOCIOLOGY

Social norms evolve with asymmetric sanctions

Nature Human Behaviour volume 2, pages 113–114 (2018)Cite this article

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How social norms evolve over time and what affects their evolution are central questions in the literature about norms. A study suggests that over time, hygiene and violence norms have become stricter, because those who prefer strict norms sanction those who prefer loose norms more than sanctioning in the other direction.

The authors develop a model in which the mechanism for norm evolution is the encounter between two people. Each of the two has a preference for a certain behaviour (for example, more- or less-strict norms about hygiene), and if their preferences differ, each of them may sanction the other. An individual who was sanctioned may consequently (with some probability) switch her preference to the other behaviour, which will affect her future encounters (she herself may then sanction others who behave as she did until recently).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Administration, Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel

    Ofer H. Azar

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  1. Ofer H. Azar
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Correspondence to Ofer H. Azar.

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The author declares no competing interests.

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Azar, O.H. Social norms evolve with asymmetric sanctions. Nat Hum Behav 2, 113–114 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-017-0288-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-017-0288-x

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