Signaling about norms: socialization under strategic uncertainty

Adriani, Fabrizio; Sonderegger, Silvia

Abstract

We consider a signaling model where adults possess information about the dominant social norm. Children want to conform to whatever norm is dominant but, lacking accurate information, take the observed behavior of their parent as representative. We show that this causes a signaling distortion in adult behavior, even in the absence of conflicts of interest. Parents adopt attitudes that encourage their children to behave in a socially safe way, i.e. the way that would be optimal under maximum uncertainty about the prevailing social norm. We discuss applications to sexual attitudes, collective reputation, and trust.

Citation

Adriani, F., & Sonderegger, S. (2018). Signaling about norms: socialization under strategic uncertainty. Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 120(3), 685-716. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjoe.12240

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 23, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Feb 28, 2017
• Publication Date: Jul 30, 2018
• Deposit Date: Nov 21, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 1, 2019
• Journal: Scandinavian Journal of Economics
• Print ISSN: 0347-0520
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-9442
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 120
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 685-716
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/sjoe.12240
• Keywords: signaling, Social Norms, Cultural Transmission, Complementarities, Conformity
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/822104
• Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sjoe.12240/full
• Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Adriani, F. and Sonderegger, S. (2017), Signaling about Norms: Socialization under Strategic Uncertainty. Scand. J. of Economics. Accepted Author Manuscript, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/sjoe.12240. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
• Contract Date: Nov 21, 2016