Thesis
Exploring Social Norms in a Pandemic Setting: Stockpiling and Normative Expectations
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2023
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000005124
Abstract
This study explores how social circumstances associated with the Covid-19 pandemic illuminate and condition norms about stockpiling. I specifically examine how contextual features of stockpiling, such as timing of purchase or type of product, shape individuals’ understanding of said behavior. This study also explores age and subgroup variation in the perception of social norms around stockpiling. Data was gathered via an online vignette experiment through Prolific (https://www.prolific.co/). Using consequentialist and social cues theory, I predict that an individual’s normative expectations about stockpiling will vary by the amount of harm and risk associated with stockpiling and their age. My results showed that different types of products and timing of purchase yielded differences in an individual’s normative expectations towards stockpiling. The main effects of age by the experimental conditions showed a meaningful increase of expected disapproval, but age did not condition the effects of product or timing of stockpiling. Future investigation of normative expectations associated with shifting Covid-19 behaviors could hint at a larger pandemic normative landscape that needs to be explored.
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Details
- Title
- Exploring Social Norms in a Pandemic Setting
- Creators
- Georgia Glenn Plotkin
- Contributors
- Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson (Advisor)Chirstine Horne (Committee Member)Thomas Rotolo (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Sociology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 31
- Identifiers
- 99901019837401842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis