Welcome to the Web Site
of the National Social Norms Institute

The National Social Norms Institute opened its doors in 2006 at the University of Virginia, a nationally renowned public institution.  The Institute’s origins began in 2000 with the establishment of the National Social Norms Resource Center at Northern Illinois University.  Since moving to UVA, the mission expanded to include research, evaluation, and dissemination of information on the social norms approach to the field. Our goals are to demonstrate and facilitate the extension of the methodology to other health issues and other populations. The NSNI advisory board consists of prominent researchers and academicians in the field.

The National Social Norms Institute is made possible through a generous gift from the Anheuser Busch companies and its charitable foundation.

NSNI is pleased to announce that archives of The Report on Social Norms, a publication founded and edited by Dr. Alan Berkowitz, are now available on this web site. The Report was published from 2001 to 2005 in various formats, such as quarterlies and working papers, and is an excellent resource for early materials on the approach.

Individual issues and indices organized by author, topic, and title, in PDFs, can be found under the Resources section of this site.

Breaking news! Philadelphia has been selected as the venue for the 2010 National Conference on the Social Norms Approach, July 11-13th. Calls for Proposals are currently being accepted and the form can be accessed here.

The Hyatt Regency Philadelphia at Penn's Landing will be the conference site (conference rates $159 per night for Single/ Double/ Triple/Quad plus tax). Information on conference registration rates will be available in January and announced here. We look forward to seeing everyone in Philly !

The 2009 National Conference on the Social Norms Approach (Minneapolis, Minnesota, July 13-14th) recently concluded. A brief conference summary is posted here, along with a summary of program abstracts and a slide show of conference highlightsMany thanks to all participants for a great 2009 event.

NSNI is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2009 National Social Norms Institute Dissertation Fellowships. These fellowships, valued at up to $20,000 each, are awarded in support of up to two years of work towards completion of dissertation writing.

Edward Glazer of Michigan State University (proposed title: The Social Norms Approach and Peer Referent Groups Online and Off: Drinking Moderation, Involvement, and Reactants") and Joel Grossbard of the University of Washington (proposed title: "Conform to the Norm? Normative Misperceptions of Drinking, Substance Use and Body Image Among College Students Over Time") were selected for their potential to contribute to the understanding of the theory, practice, and evaluation of the social norms approach.

NSNI congratulates Mr. Grossbard on the recent publication of Is Substance Abuse a Team Sport? Attraction to Team, Perceived Norms, and Alcohol and Marijuana Use Among Male and Female Intercollegiate Athletes. (2009) in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 21 (3), 247-261. (read the abstract in our 2009 Research section).

You can learn more about the recipients and their work here ;please join us in congratulating Ed and Joel !

Recent Research

An impressive number of articles were published last year concerning the role of social norms in a broad range of areas, including gambling, tax compliance, energy conservation, risky sexual behavior, and high-risk alcohol consumption. As always, complete abstracts for these articles are available in the section of our web site devoted to Recent Research.

Cimini, M. D., Martens, M. P., Larimer, M. E., Kilmer, J. R., Neighbors, C., & Monserrat, J. M. (2009). Assessing the effectiveness of peer-facilitated interventions addressing high-risk drinking among judicially mandated college students. Journal of Studies on Alcohol & Drugs, Supplement 16, 57-66.

Cross, J.E. & Peisner, W. (2009). RECOGNIZE: A social norms campaign to reduce rumor spreading in a junior high school. Professional School Counseling, 12 (5), 365.

DeJong, W., Schneider, S.K., Towvim, L.G., Murphy, M.J., Doerr, E.E., Simonsen, N.R., et al. (2009). A multisite randomized trial of social norms marketing campaigns to reduce college student drinking: A replication failure. Substance Abuse, 30 (2), 127-140.

Keller, A., Frye, L., Bauerle, J., & Turner, J.C. (2009). Legal ages for purchase and consumption of alcohol and heavy drinking among college students in Canada, Europe, and the United States. Substance Abuse, 30, 248-252.

Keller, A. & Bauerle, J. (2009). Using a logic model to relate the strategic to the tactical in program planning and evaluation: An illustration based on social norms interventions. American Journal of Health Promotion, in press.

Latkin, C., Donnell, D., Celentano, D.D., Aramrattna, A., Liu, T.Y., Vongchak, T. et al. (2009). Relationships between social norms, social network characteristics, and HIV behaviors in Thailand and the United States. Health Psychology, 28 (3), 323-329.

Mallett, K.A., Bachrach, R.L., & Turrisi, R. (2009). Examining the unique influence of interpersonal and intrapersonal drinking perceptions on alcohol consumption among college students. Journal of Studies on Alcohol & Drugs, 70 (20), 178-185.

Moreira, M.T., Smith, L.A., & Foxcroft, D. (2009). Social norms interventions to reduce alcohol misuse in university or college students. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009, 3, CD006748.

Schmidt, E., Kiss, S.M., & Lokanc-Diluzio, W. (2009). Changing social norms: A mass media campaign for youth ages 12-18. Canadian Journal of Public Health. Revue Canadienne de Sante Publique, 100 (1), 41-45.