social norms

Question 1

social comparison theory-

Answer 1

• Social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954)- can explain modelling and social impression managaement

Evidence:
* Body image & media exposure
▫ Eating after exposure to thin images
▫ Overall decrease; restraint predicts increase in consumption
* Modelling only when similarities exist
* Presence of others at a meal (Salvy et al., (2009)= noted that overweight adolescence females and how they ate with peers who were normal weight vs another overweight peer- ate more with overweight peer.

• Pizza slice study (Polivy, Herman & Deo, 2010).= shown difference sizes of pizza being sent off to other participants. some saw a larger slice than what they were given, some saw smaller= some thought they had been ‘short changed’ some thought they got more! the group that felt they were ‘short changed’ ate more pizza when in eat as much pizza session.

Question 2

social norms and eating

Answer 2

• Social norms are implicit codes of conduct that
  provide a guide to appropriate action.
  ▫ Perceived standards for what constitutes appropriate
  consumption (amount, type of food) for a particular
  social group.
  ▫ Communicated via cultural practices and rules,
  behaviours, or via environmental cues (e.g., portion
  sizes).
  ▫ Descriptive (perceived prevalence) versus injunctive
  (perceived expectations) norms

Question 3

social norms and eating 2

Answer 3

• Norms important for affiliation and to engage in ‘correct’
  behaviour
  ▫ Higgs (2015): Adaptive behaviour to ensure consumption of
  safe foods and enhance evolutionary fitness.
  ▫ Not following social norms might result in social
  disapproval.
  ▫ Norm following more likely when uncertainty about what
  constitutes correct behaviour and where greater shared
  identity with referent group.

Question 4

scoial norms and eating 3

Answer 4

Hawkins, Farrow & Thomas (2020)
* N = 369 reported:
▫ perceptions of Facebook users’ consumption of, and
preferences for fruit, veg, energy dense snacks and sugar
sweetened beverages
▫ their own consumption of these foods
▫ BMI
* Perceived norms for Facebook users’ consumption were
significant, positive predictors of participants’
consumption for both fruit & veg, snacks and SSB.

Hawkins, Farrow & Thomas (2021)
* Subsequent experimental study
* Between-groups design - 169 female students viewed
three types of images (20/group)
▫ High Energy Dense
▫ Low Energy Dense
▫ Interior Design
* Only one type of image was socially endorsed via ‘likes’
in each condition.
* Snack buffet of grapes and cookies
Findings
* Significant main effect of condition for grapes consumption.
* Those in the LED condition consumed a higher
proportion of grapes compared to cookies, than HED condition.
* No differences between control with LED or HED.
* Exposure to socially endorsed LED food images may contribute to healthy eating, by nudging individuals to select and consume larger portions of LED
food (such as grapes) relative to HED food (such as cookies)

Question 5

a holistic approach to social influence

Answer 5

Situated Identity Enactment Model (Cruwys et al., 2016)

• Social influences in relation to the development of disordered eating.
  “Disordered eating can be understood as the direct result of being in a specific
  context which leads to an individual identifying as a member of a group that
  endorses a particular norm that prescribes disordered eating practices”
  Norms
• E.g., provision of information (e.g., via a confederate) about appropriate
  amount to eat can have a sig. influence on consumption.
• Modelling effect mediated by perceived norms.
  Social identity
• Conformity to social norms and modelling effects are moderated by
  perceived similarity
  Context
• Influence on both norms and social identity.