Social Influences on Health Environment

What are social influences on Behaviour? (Rashottes, 2007)

Change in thoughts, feelings, attitudes, or behaviours that result from interaction with another individual or a group

How can modelling affect alcohol intake? (Larsen et al., 2009)

Participants who saw a model heavily drink were more likely to consume more alcohol

What are some strengths of Larsen et al's (2009) study into modelling and alcohol intake?

Artificial setting- Able to isolate the social model and can see with confidence how having more drinks compares to fizzy drinks

What are some limitations of Larsen et al's (2009) study into modelling and alcohol intake?

Participant is unlikely to know that confederate- not a true reflection of drinking

Likely or less likely to be influenced by someone the more we know them

How can modelling affect food choice? (Cruwys et al., 2015)

Social modelling influences food choice or food intake

What can affect the effect of social influences?

Need for social acceptance & Body weight

What is social approval? (Freeman et al., 2011)

Conformity to a social model is more pronounced when concerns about affiliation are increased

What is informational influence?

Others provide a point of reference for appropriate behaviours

What is automatic mimicry? (Chartrand & Larkin, 2013)

Mimic and conform to those with whom we identify, communicating liking, and a desire to affiliate

What are descriptive norms?

Perceptions about what other people tend to do

What are injunctive norms?

Perceptions of what others approve of

What are prescriptive norms?

Focus on what others do or approve of doing

What are proscriptive norms?

Define and tell us things not to do.

How can social norms affect binge drinking? (Abraham et al., 2018)

Campaigns and descriptive norm usage reduce intentions to drink in students

How can injunctive norm info and sun protective behaviours be related? (Reid & Aiken, 2013)

Participants had stronger intentions to engage in sun protective behaviours weeks after the information was delivered

How are descriptive norms different from injunctive norms? (Griskevicius et al., 2006)

Tend to be more effective in unfamiliar or ambiguous situations

How are injunctive norms different from descriptive norms?

Enable affiliation with a social group

What is the boomerang effect?

Unintended negative consequences of social norm messages

Why can the boomerang effect happen?

An undesirable behaviour is more common than realised, or individuals reduce their behaviour to avoid being a sucker to free-riders

How to avoid the boomerang effect when delivering social norm messages?

Praise people who engage in the behaviour and avoid inadvertently promoting an undesirable behaviour

How can shared group membership be implicated for interventions?

Care is needed to ensure the group norm is desirable

What is the theory of normative behaviour?

The influence of descriptive norms is moderated by injunctive norms, group membership, behaviour identification and outcome expectations.