Group Norms

Group norms are beliefs and habits shared in common among members of a group, and include spoken and unspoken rules of conduct members expect one another to follow as well as shared perceptions. Norms are a group's normal ways of behaving and interacting, and prescribe to members what they ought to do in certain situations. Norms are implicitly understood ranges of behavior and reflect the group's consensus about what behaviors are acceptable. Examples of norms in a medical treatment group might include arriving on time for group meetings, using humor in stressful situations, and speaking critically about other members only within the group.

Norms can develop early and quickly or can emerge gradually over a group's life span. Norms for interaction behaviors are often created in the group's first meetings and can set the tone for the group's productivity and interactions internally and externally. One classic laboratory study that demonstrates how quickly norms can be formed found that when groups of strangers saw an ambiguous visual stimulus every few minutes, they at first disagreed on what it was, but after three or four trials their judgments typically converged to a perceptual norm. Another study of college students living in one dormitory showed that over an academic year, their political beliefs converged.

Individuals tend to internalize group norms, to adopt them as personal beliefs and habits that guide their thinking and action—even away from other group members. Individuals also tend to affiliate with groups whose members have beliefs and habits compatible with their own. Consistent with both tendencies, a study of eating disorders found unusually high rates of bulimia among cheerleading squads, sports teams, and sororities. Members of these groups who did not have the habit when they joined demonstrated an increasing tendency to adopt bulimia the longer they remained. This result illustrates the well-established finding that groups can maintain norms that oppose those of the larger social unit or community.

Group norms can include shared stereotypes, or generalized beliefs about the attributes of those who belong to certain identifiable groups or social categories. For example, a group of nurses might develop a stereotype concerning local physicians, either favorable (“Docs here really care about patients”) or unfavorable (“Our docs have rotten bedside manners”) or both. Intergroup cooperation or hostility can accompany such stereotypes.

Individuals typically conform with group norms—even concerning matters irrelevant to group goals—in part because groups tend to enforce certain norms through subtle or even harsh sanctions of deviants. A study of discussion groups found that those who espoused decisions contrary to group consensus and who refused to be[Page 231] persuaded by their groups, tended to be excluded from later discussion. Another example concerned groups that formed among workers in the Hawthorne Studies at the Western Electric Company, who agreed to be observed in a special work room where they assembled telephone-switching equipment. Two informal groups formed in the same room. One developed a norm for high production; the other developed norms for lower output. Members of this second group who exceeded or fell short of their quotas—“ratebusters” or “chiselers,” respectively—experienced “binging,” in which other members took turns slugging them hard on the shoulder. Work groups routinely develop and enforce norms concerning collective output, or production, even at odds with their host organizations.

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