Social norms are informal and formal rules that govern how we act and what we see as normal and taboo. Examples in Western culture are saying “excuse me” if you accidentally bump into someone or not interrupting someone when they’re speaking. A social norms approach to change focuses less on changing beliefs and more on changing perceptions of what other people like us do. Our behavior is influenced by those around us. If we think something is a social norm (or becoming one), we will update our own actions to fit in. The social norms theory was first used by Perkins and Berkowitz in 1986 to address alcohol consumption in a student population.
Citation: Perkins, H. W., & Berkowitz, A. D. (1986). Perceiving the community norms of alcohol use among students: Some research implications for campus alcohol education programming. International Journal of the Addictions, 21 (9-10), 961–976.