Are Social Norms Involved In Saving The Environment

Everyone in my generation has probably grown up seeing ads or watching videos about pollution or about the environment in general, so much, to the point that these constant reminders about protecting our planet are already part of the norm for us. While these reminders have had positive effects, like how more and more people have become informed of the Earth’s condition, many people, myself included, still remain indifferent to the threats our environment faces. I won’t lie; I’m no saint or crusader for the cause, but every now and then certain videos or articles strike a chord within me and makes me reflect on the way how I’ve been living affects the environment. One such article was the one we read last week in class, “The Sixth Extinction” by Elizabeth Kolbert in the Upfront magazine.

The ethics of sustainability has become increasingly relevant as more and more countries acknowledge global climate change and the subsequent environmental crisis. Recent evidence strongly suggests that the vast majority of environmental crises, including climate change, are caused and perpetuated by humans. Perhaps the silver lining to the fact that environmental crises are anthropogenic is that we, as a species, have the opportunity to control the problem by changing our behaviors. This paper explores different analyses and applications of Immanuel Kant and Aldo Leopold’s ethics regarding sustainability and personal obligation, and seeks to answer the question: what is the best way to foster a sense of environmental ethics and awareness in humans? I have concluded that perhaps the best way to protect the environment is for each person to take minute steps towards living a sustainable lifestyle. These steps, such as reducing trash or modifying our diets, are not time consuming or expensive and can be undertaken by anyone. Although these lifestyle changes may seem insignificant, if everyone reduced their trash output or ate less meat, there would be huge changes in our collective output. In order for this method to work, however, each person must first feel a moral responsibility to play his or her part in protecting the environment. In fact, a sense of personal responsibility may be the single most important factor in creating and implementing more sustainable practices.

An example of how social norm effects people’s behavior online, can be showed through the topic of eating behavior. Social networks have created a place where information can be post about what other people think/ does and what they expect them to do. So, if someone say’s eating burgers make you fat, from Chapter 3 of Nudge two possible things can influence a person information and peer pressure. Information affects behavior in this situation because other people opinions convey what they think is best for you. Peer pressure affects Information affects behavior in this situation as people conform to others ways to avoid one’s

This paper will give a definition of deviance by analyzing the varying types and definition of deviance. Violations of social norms is key to defining deviance. There are three key features within social norms: time, place, and situation, that come together to establish deviance. The relativity of the all of those events combined into one along with who is perceiving the act is what defines deviance Social Norm are informal rules that help govern a society. Norms differ from place, time period, and situations.

Everyday, American individuals conform to social norms by observing or interacting with one another. These unspoken rules guide how individuals are expected to behave in society. A culture is a set of values, beliefs, and behavior that outlines a person’s way of life, and by conforming to societal norms, humans are creating their own culture. However, when norms are violated, one may respond with any sort of emotions including anger, confusion, or being afraid. Without norms, the world would be chaotic. People would break laws making this world unsafe. For this assignment, I was told to observe people's reaction by breaking a folkway, a type of social norm that results in small consequences.

In conversations globally the environment is a hot topic. Issues with the ozone layer, depleting natural resources, and health risks associated with emissions and changes in climate coupled with its resulting natural disasters; have pushed conservation issues into the spotlight. The environmental issues presented today are not the result of one country, one type, or one-industry actions but a communal failure of a mixture of several. With that said many countries and industries are going through policy changes to combat environmental issues that will hopefully benefit the environment, the consumer, and industries.

Many people have been affected in some shape or form by others around them. Social influence has many different parts to it and affects our everyday lives.

Every minute, 30 football field sized sections of forests are cut down—and that is just from illegal harvesting (“Corruption and the Environment”). The modern world has become so reliant on wood products that at the current rate of deforestation there will soon be no forests left to enjoy. Governments refrain from making their clear-cutting plans public to avoid scrutiny. With governments very unlikely to change their policies, unless monetary gain is guaranteed, it is on the people of the United States and the rest of the world to reinforce positive environmental consciousness. If people were to become aware of the consequences to living extravagant lifestyles, more natural resources would be conserved for future generations.

A society without social norms, behavioral expectations, or laws would be a very scary place to live. This would be just like the time of Sodom and Gomorrah. A time of total chaos and destruction. A time of evil with very little good to be seen. Everyone did as they pleased with no consequences. And as a result of this, the city was burnt to the ground.

In order to examine the first research question, which focuses on whether the two sets of environmental behaviors are essentially the same or not they are systematically analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis. The foundation of this analysis relies on the fact that environmental behavior may take many forms and that those who are concerned about the environment may engage in some behaviors more so than other forms. This possible difference in engagement may be due to opportunity structures that help or hinder the feasibility of engaging. For example, if one does not have access to a curbside-recycling program, it would follow that the likelihood of engaging in this specific behavior would be lower than someone who did. This is just one

Normative social influences guide people to understand what is and what is not acceptable behaviour in certain social contexts, and for the most part, people seem to conform (Droogendyk, 2016). The normative social influence or “social norm” that was violated and that this paper focuses on is sitting in the back seat of a car when there is only two people in the vehicle. This is classed as a descriptive social norm, and is so because it does not have any sort of moral component. It is a common understanding of how a person should act in a given situation (Aronson, Wilson, Fehr, & Akert, 2013). These descriptive norms usually have a powerful impact on how a person behaves and motivates them to act a certain way (Droogendyk, 2016). In this case,

Social Psychology has always been a key element in our understanding of human behaviour. Conformity plays a big part in the history of social psychology; conformity (also known as Majority Influence) is a type of social influence that involves a person changing their thoughts and beliefs in order to fit into a group. An example of this is during WW2, in which Hitler used his dominating opinions and authority to influence the Nazis and obscure their views, which lead them to conform to the horrendous orders that were given during the war. Therefore social psychology can help us understand how a certain phrase, appearance, status, or opinion can influence different behaviours in different cultures. However, certain cultures are more susceptible to conform. This links to the idea of Gerard’s (1955) development of social theory, normative social influence, this consists of the desire to ‘fit in’ and obtain social approval, which results in avoiding punishment, exclusion and ridicule. Two important studies that have been conducted by Asch and Milgram are great examples of how conformity and normative social influence can affect people’s behaviours.

Therefore, that should influence you to not harm the environment. I have noticed in my era that the society is becoming more environmentally friendly. Being that most of my generation has projected their voice about what they are passionate about, they are influenced by someone. Therefore, I feel that if ones were to litter they would be confronted by society by trying to influence that person to change for the good. This introduces the act of consistency. It begins when an individual has established a subconscious thought that’s been created by a company that will result in a commitment to effective behavior. When the waste company in Hillsborough Country provided us with the required trash can and recycling bin, that was when I had started to recycle. I didn’t recycle before only because I didn’t think about it; I was ignorant to the idea. However, once my bins arrived, I began separating my trash just as they wanted me to. This also introduces the science of consensus. This is when people tend to agree with another’s actions and behaviors when they are uncertain in which they will react to predictable outcomes. Once I saw my neighbors bringing their recycling bins down to the street, I began to feel influenced to become green.

In this journal, the topics that I will be discussing are public conformity, private conformity and the norm of reciprocity.

As the years go by humans acquire more and more knowledge about technology, the environment, animals and each other. You would think that this knowledge would make us more accepting and understanding, but in fact it seems to have the opposite effect for some people today. People are all worried about efficiency, money and mass production, and many times overlooks animals and the environment. Though there are activists and scientist that stand up for nature, more should be done to raise awareness and help their cause.