Perception of Norm Clarity and Punishment in Affecting Value-Expressive Behaviours

Tightness of norms involves both norm clarity and punishment of deviance – the former concerns whether there is clear expectation of behavior and the latter concerns how severe the social disapproval is for norm violation. Whereas individuals in tighter societies are expected to display norm adherence, little is known on how individuals’ perceptions of norm clarity and punishment might affect their decisions in norm adherence for value-expressive behaviors. Social-focused values concern how individuals relate socially to others. We expected engagement in behaviors expressing social-focused values to be predicted by perceived norm clarity and punishment because individuals would be concerned about the perceptions of social others. Personal-focused values concern individuals’ expression of personal preferences. We expected the effect of perceived clarity and punishment on engagement in behaviors expressing personal-focused values to be moderated by the extent to which norm adherence would fulfill the individual’s personal needs. To test our predictions, Singaporean undergraduates were provided with a list of behaviors pretested to be expressive of social-focused or personal-focused values. They rated their perceived norm clarity and punishment of each behavior, and their likelihood of engaging in each behavior. We also measured the participants’ need for closure. Results were consistent with our predictions. Perceived clarity and punishment predicted engagement in behaviors expressing social-focused values. However, for behaviors expressing personal-focused values, the effect was only apparent for individuals high in need for closure. Implications for value expression and norm adherence will be discussed.