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Harmful social behaviors are the toughest to shift
At least in simple video games, actively harmful social norms were the least flexible to modification. Here, a crowd gathers without social distancing in May 2020. Image credit: qwret/Shutterstock
Social norms changed dramatically during the pandemic. Six-foot distancing and mask wearing became de facto rules in some communities, while elsewhere, wearing a mask was seen as an invitation for harassment. A new study in
Proceedings of the Royal Society B asks how people learn new social norms and how flexible those norms can be. Using a series of simple video games, author Uri Hertz showed that some norms are easier to change than others. The least flexible behavioral patterns turned out to be those that actively harm others.