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

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.

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Journal
American Sociological Review
Published
2026-08-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/00031224261464586
Primary Topic
Social Power and Status Dynamics
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article
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article

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

Saša Drače, Narine Khachatryan, Dinka Čorkalo, Alberth Estuardo Alvarado Ortiz et al.
American Sociological Review
Social Power and Status Dynamics
article

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

Saša Drače, Narine Khachatryan, Dinka Čorkalo, Alberth Estuardo Alvarado Ortiz, Bojana M. Dinić, Rita W. El‐Haddad, Žan Lep, Marlon Elías Lobos-Rivera, Ming‐Jen Lin, Alisher Aldashev, Brian W. Haas, Given Hapunda, John Jamir Benzon R. Aruta, Celine Frank, Toko Kiyonari, Eva Boštjančič, Habib Mohammad Ali, Marie Björnstjerna, Marie Briguglio, Zsolt Demetrovics, Andrea Czakó, Edona Maloku, Gizem Arıkan, Maurizio Alì, Iva Kapović, Stavros P. Hadjisolomou, Colin Mathew Hugues D. Gill, Wilson López‐López, Xia Fang, Ignacio Escudero Pérez, Michal Kohút, Paweł Boski, Geoffrey Haddock, Davide Barrera, Jonah Kiruja, Brent Simpson, Barbara Landon, Kadi Liik, Mahsa Hazrati, Alin Gavreliuc, Nina Hadžiahmetović, Jully Paola Merchán Tamayo, Huyen Thi Thu Bui, Manase Kudzai Chiweshe, Dzintra Iliško, Moudachirou Ibikounlé, Piyanjali de Zoysa, M. Jimenez, Katarzyna Growiec, Biljana Gjoneska, Hoonseok Choi, Harpa Lind Jónsdóttir, Khatai Aliyev, Boris Christian Herbas Torrico, Pontus Strimling, Kerry Kawakami, Peter Haľama, Zivile Kaminskiene, Yang Li, Sheyla Blumen, Mohammad Ali, Szilárd Holka, Azma Batool, Stéphanie Ngandu Bimina, Khalid Ahmed Abdi, Gassemi Karim, Julian B. Kirschner, Shazia Kousar, Kimmo Eriksson, Vladimer Gamsakhurdia, Per A. Andersson, Birzhan Batkeyev, Miguel Landa-Blanco, Carlos C. Contreras‐Ibáñez, Ragna B. Garðarsdóttir, Besnik Krasniqi, Yasser Alrefaee, Tomás Caycho‐Rodríguez, Lisa M. Leslie, Neta Ad, Marta Fulop, Hyun Euh, Eemeli Hakoköngäs, Yap Boum, Elizaveta Berezina, Andree Hartanto, Ani Grigoryan, Christian Lutete Ayikwa, Yanyan Chen, Christian E. Cruz-Torres, Giulia Andrighetto, John A. Hunter, Jan B. Engelmann, Martina Hřebíčková, Sylvie Graf, Andreas Glöckner, Irina Vartanova, Hansika Kapoor, Esteban Freidin, Jonatan Baños-Chaparro
article en

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.

American Sociological Review
Semmelweis University (HU), Linköping University (SE), Tbilisi State University (GE), University of Sarajevo (BA), Eötvös Loránd University (HU), Uppsala University (SE), Universidad de Guanajuato (MX), Aoyama Gakuin University (JP), Collegio Carlo Alberto (IT), Université de Yaoundé I (CM), University of Helsinki (FI), Hanoi National University of Education (VN), University of Trnava (SK), University of Zimbabwe (ZW), University of Ljubljana (SI), University of South Carolina (US), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US), Lahore College for Women University (PK), Open University of Israel (IL), University of Iceland (IS), University of Georgia (US), National Taiwan University (TW), National Autonomous University of Honduras (HN), Flinders University (AU), University of Novi Sad (RS), Kazakh-British Technical University (KZ), Vilnius University (LT), Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (MK), University of Cologne (DE), University of Zagreb (HR), Lund University (SE), York University (CA), Tallinn University (EE), Daugavpils University (LV), Yerevan State University (AM), University of Malta (MT), Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (MX), Czech Academy of Sciences (CZ), Trinity College Dublin (IE), Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK), Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (CO), Galileo University (GT), University of Hargeisa (SO), Universidad Científica del Sur (PE), Forman Christian College (PK), Green University of Bangladesh (BD), Tohoku Gakuin University (JP), Al al-Bayt University (JO), West University of Timişoara (RO), Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary (HU), University of Zambia (ZM), Uniwersytet SWPS (PL), Azerbaijan State University of Economics (AZ), Institute for Futures Studies (SE), Université Protestante au Congo (CD), Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation (GD), Universidad Tecnológica de El Salvador (SV), Indiana University Bloomington (US), Université d'Abomey-Calavi (BJ), Centre of Social and Psychological Sciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK), Institute of Psychology (PL), Educational Research Institute (SI), Centro Científico Tecnológico - Bahía Blanca (AR), Institute of Behavioral Sciences (JP), Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Martinique (MQ), Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Economics (DE), Universidad Norbert Wiener (PE), Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology (HU), Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Psychology (CZ), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies (IT), Institut Supérieur Pédagogique Technique (CD), Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales del Sur, University of Gibraltar, Shahid Beheshti University (IR), University of Turin (IT), New York University (US), De La Salle University (PH), Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PE), American University of Kuwait (KW), Zhejiang University (CN), Technische Universität Dresden (DE), University of Prishtina (XK), Cardiff University (GB), Singapore Management University (SG), University of Otago (NZ), Mälardalen University (SE), Sunway University (MY), Sungkyunkwan University (KR), Universidad Católica del Uruguay (UY), University of Amsterdam (NL), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (MX), University of Colombo (LK), Tecnológico de Monterrey (MX), University of Hassan II Casablanca (MA)
John Templeton Foundation, Open University of Israel, Australian National University, Grantová Agentura České Republiky, Narodowe Centrum Nauki, Vetenskapsrådet, Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation, Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, National Research, Development and Innovation Office, NextGenerationEU
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Social Power and Status Dynamics
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