How and why do we choose, endorse, and follow rules?

As it turns out, what others think and do has a strong influence on what individuals think and do. This has important implications for how to garner support for climate-informed policies and actions. While we know that social norms affect the attitudes and behavior of individuals, there are aspects we don’t yet understand, including how some norms are internalized—driven by internal motivations rather than external motivations like material rewards and punishments. Professor Dan Kelly (Philosophy) explores the possible psychological origins of this internalization in his recent essay.

Daniel Kelly (2020) Internalized Norms and Intrinsic Motivations: Are Normative Motivations Psychologically Primitive? Emotion Researcher, June 2020, p. 36-45.