A stranger or a friend? Closer descriptive norms drive compliance with COVID-19 social distancing measures

A growing volume of work suggests a positive impact of descriptive norms on health-protective behavior in the COVID-19 pandemic. However, past work has often been correlational and has rarely compared the effect of different group norms. In the present paper, we present the results of a longitudinal study ( N = 1,051) that addresses these gaps by testing the cross-sectional and cross-lagged effects of norms and directly compared three different norms (close circle, neighborhood, and country) on compliance with COVID-19 regulations. The results revealed a positive effect of the close-circle norm (associated with more compliant behavior both cross-sectionally and longitudinally), no effect of the neighborhood norm, and a negative effect of the national norm (associated with less compliant behavior). Compliant behavior also led to a greater close-circle norm longitudinally, suggesting that both feed into each other. We discuss not only the challenges but also the chances this research highlights for norm-based interventions.