Cooperazione in Tempi di Crisi: Prove Empiriche da Diversi Contesti Sociali

People are almost never fully autonomous thinkers, but rather influenced by, and concerned about others’ opinions and actions. We act as members of groups and indeed one of the main drivers of the behavioral model from the sociological perspective is social influence, particularly social norms, which are powerful means of shaping behaviour. They are informal behavioral rules that specify what actions should be performed within a given social context (Bicchieri, 2005; Cialdini et al., 1990). Drawing from this perspective, my research is motivated to study the role of social norms in fostering cooperative behaviour. As a case study, I examine COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the primary incentives for adhering to pandemic-related restrictions, including mask-wearing and social distancing. Therefore, one of the focal points of this study is to explore the social contexts where COVID-19-related social norms were established, leading to compliant behaviour, and where they are not.