How Norms Depend on the Presence and Status of Observers: The Relational Contingency of Everyday Behaviors in 90 Societies

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Abstract
Norms are fundamental to social life, but basic questions about how they are affected by social context remain. Specifically, how do normative constraints depend on the presence and status of observers, and how do such relational contingencies vary across cultures? Using data from more than 25,000 individuals across 90 societies, we test several hypotheses linking normative constraints on everyday behaviors (like arguing, laughing, cursing, kissing, and crying), to the presence and status of observers. We find that behaviors widely viewed as appropriate in private become more constrained in the presence of others (an observer effect), and even more so when those others are higher in status (a status effect). Both observer and status effects are culturally universal, but the observer effect shows more variation across cultures. In particular, we find that observer effects are larger in societies that emphasize individualizing moral foundations, that is, avoiding harm and unfairness to others, because these societies are more permissive of actions when others are not around. The relative stability of status effects across cultural contexts suggests a universal tendency to defer in social hierarchies. These findings shed light on the relational contingency of everyday norms and underscore the role of such norms in the maintenance of social order and reproduction of inequality.
Funding Information
  • the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (grant no. 2022.0191)
  • McCausland College of Arts and Sciences
  • HSE Basic Research Program (HSE-BR-2025-52)
  • NextGenerationEU (BG-RRP-2.004-0007-C01)
  • John Templeton Foundation (62631)
  • Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2023095)
  • Open University of Israel (48766)
  • Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JP21K02983)
  • Narodowe Centrum Nauki (2019/35/B/HS6/01421)
  • National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH-OTKA-K 135963)
  • Australian National University
  • Vetenskapsrådet
  • Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation (FR-22-15319)
  • Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia (7744418)
  • CIS—Centro de Investigação e Intervenção Social
  • Grantová Agentura České Republiky (GA23-06170S)
  • DigiWELL (CZ.02.01.01/00/22_008/0004583)

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