Toward an understanding of norm prevalence: A comparative analysis of 20 years of research

Norms are defined as evaluative standards regarding individual behavior or conditions in a given context. They define what behavior should be, rather th;an actual behavior. Norm prevalence refers to the proportion of individuals in a population who can articulate a norm in a given evaluation context. This paper empirically examines the prevalence of encounter norms in 56 evaluation contexts. Data for this comparative analysis were obtained from 30 studies that used a single-item question asking recreationists to indicate the highest number of encounters they would tolerate before the experience changed. Four predictor variables were examined. (1) type of resource, (2) type of activity, (3) type of encounter, and (4) question response format. As anticipated, norm prevalence varied by type of resource (backcountry or frontcountry), type of encounter (no conflict versus conflict), and question response format (two-category implicit, two-category explicit, and three-category). These three independent variables explained 64% of the variance in norm prevalence. Also as hypothesized. there was no relationship between type of activity (consumptive or nonconsumptive) and norm prevalence. Implications for future research and management are discussed; it is argued that prevalence is an important characteristic of social norms.