Having discussed the place of Values and Belief in the Value Belief Norm theory of behaviour, it is time to have a look at normative behaviour and how it plays a role in our behaviour in relation to the environment. Normative behaviour can be defined as a behaviour that is, quite simply, considered the 'norm'. The Cambridge dictionary define it as:
"an accepted standard or a way of behaving or doing things that most people agree with"
It is often subconscious decision making and is probably the factor that influences behaviour from the widest range of inputs. In contrast to values and beliefs, norms aren't necessarily derived from the specific environmental impact, instead they could be from learnt behaviour, peer pressure or expected behaviour from other people. The range of inputs feeding into norms makes it one of the hardest areas to target in behaviour change and one that often needs active participation from the individual to overcome.
Normative behaviour comes in many different forms including; personal norms, family norms, social norms, societal norms and cultural norms and likely goes beyond these. A strong norm can directly oppose personal values or belief, and even contribute to a change in values/belief over time. Likewise, although norms are often a result of external forces acting upon an individual, particularly strong beliefs and values can result in a behaviour change in a person.
One of the biggest growing trends in modern society is veganism. I am not a vegan, though in our house we eat very little meat, and what meat we do buy and eat is locally sourced. However, I understand the reasons behind veganism and why it has become such a prominent feature in modern society. Firstly, going vegan has moved away from the very focused 'aninmal rights' movement of PETA and other organisations and have started to approach different values, mostly due to increased research and awareness. The huge threat of the meat & diary industry on the environment is widely reported, and I'd expect a documentary similar to Seaspiracy to be released in the near future (focusing on environmental issues, not animal suffering).
The challenge here is while many people (myself included) value the environment above almost everything else, and even believe and understand the impacts the industry has on the environment, the long developed norm of eating meat in society can make it difficult for many to make the switch. Often, people (like my house) will choose to reduce meat consumption greatly and source it locally, from small farms whose environmental impact is limited. Many would argue that this is not effective and that local isn't necessarily better, but they forget that vegan food has an impact on the environment as well, but they are less discussed because it isn't as bad as largescale commercial meat farming.
This isn't a vegan debate however, it is to highlight there in society, eating meat is the norm. The growth of veganism is changing that norm, but for some, going vegan will never be considered, due to a life long, learnt behaviour and norm within their family/community. The best thing to do, if you have children anyway, is to move away from regular meat meals, focus more on a variety of exciting vegan and vegetable dishes, this will create a family/personal norm that will be more concious of what they eat (this is a good idea for health anyway). Coupled with education and understanding, it's a norm that can be shifted for long term behaviour change.
Some norms, like meat consumption are in place on a cultural level. Others have formed from external forces and laws. Driving your car at the speed limits and wearing a seat belt are both norms that have formed as a result of changing laws and safety understanding. When I was a teenager, my mum had an old school VW beetle. The beetle didn't have seatbelts in the back as it wasn't enforced in cars at the time of construction. Now, you won't find any cars without seatbelts in the back. No one questions it or refuses to wear them. It is a subconcious behaviour most of us do as we get in a car. Of course, we value our own health and safety and we understand these things save our lives, but it is a behavioural norm that was forced through safety measures. Likewise, in the UK, like many other countries, recycling and reducing waste to landfill has increased over the years. In days of old, all household waste would be chucked in a black bag and sent to landfill. As pollution, litter and waste sustainability became more pronounced and researched, councils and governments made an effort to reduce what we buried. This spawned the kerbside collection of recyclable materials. Where I currently live, they collect plastic, paper, cardboard, glass, magasines and food waste on a weekly basis, with garden waste (Grass trimming etc.) and black bag waste every two weeks, with a limit on how many black bags you can put out. This change in collection services has not only encouraged, but enforced behaviour change. If you are only allowed 3 black bags every 2 weeks, people either have to reduce their waste or visit the tip (or fly-tip). Recycling is easy enough if you have space and weekly collections of such a variety of materials makes it uncomplicated for most. One colleague I was speaking with suggested that the change to collections has actually led to an increased level of awareness and belief in some community members, realising and understanding how much of their weekly waste can actually be recycled - indicating full behavioural change as a result of an enforced norm.
Norms will often act upon people without them realising and, in my opinion, is the greatest barrier to a full environmental behavioural change in many people. In a recent discussion with a friend of mine, we spoke about 'learnt behaviour'. He was stating that (as I say above) children eat meat because it is a learnt behaviour, they are given meat and, especially in their early days, they don't choose what they eat. It is the parents who give it to them. He believes that no child would choose to eat meat if they knew where it had come from, which, I probably agree with. With this in mind, eating meat & diary is, as many other behaviours we do daily, a learnt behaviour for children, it becomes a family norm. When that is confirmed by wider social norms (friends who eat meat/behave certain ways), from here it grows into societal norms.
A couple of examples from our own household related to this. From day 1, our kids have had reusable, stainless steel bottles, and only ever drink water (and smoothies/fresh squeezed orange juice). The boy has gotten to the point where he doesn't really like other drinks and certainly would never ask us for it if we asked him what he wants. We have instilled this behaviour simply because we only drink water as adults (fine, I sometimes drink cider and always coffee) and we always use our own reusable bottles, even in the house. The kids love using their own colourful bottles, and stealing ours too. It is natural. They rarely consider other containers. This is their norm.
More recently, we opted to try and go car free. It was hard at first, but then the car, and van both broke. So Sabi has been taking the kids to school via bike and we have been going further afield with the bikes. The kids don't question it, and both love getting on their own bikes regularly. It is a norm, and hopefully, as they grow older, they'll want to cycle to school, rather than take a car (which we don't own anymore anyway).
Finally, capitalism and second hand toys. Ever since the boy was a baby, we have been avid charity shop divers. We'll happily spend 50 pence for a toy that maybe only partially works for him to play with on a daily basis. It got to the stage that he has boxes and boxes of toys that are slowly making their way back to charity shops. Has he had a poor childhood because we don't buy new? No, he loves his toys regardless if it's missing bits or doesn't work properly, he doesn't care. He has an imagination and its normal for him to have things that don't look brand new.
Why does it matter? Capitalism societal norm on huge scale, buying stuff because that's what we think we are supposed to do. Replacing with new instead of fixing it. This is a norm that leads to such a throwaway society we are destroying the planet, both in terms of waste created and energy/materials to make new products.
While norms are not something you are always aware of, and are often difficult to change. The key to it, and all factors involved in your behaviour is to question it. You'll only work to change your norms if you value and believe it'll make a difference. If your norm changes outside of your control then perhaps your values will change with it and you'll push forwards. If you are reading this, it's likely you have values for the environment. The key to changing your behaviour is to read, learn and understand what actions you are taking that are negative and, if you understand then you can start to make decisions that'll change your behaviour for the good. (This goes beyond environmental issues). Behaviour change takes perseverance, effort and conscious thought about your values and your own impacts. If you care about your future, your children and the planet then it's simply a case of putting int he effort, which is where we all struggle. But don't give up. Behaviour change is a process, not a straight line, a wibbly wobbly line, which will sometimes go backwards, or sideways, but through perseverance, we can be the change we want to see in the world.
Upcoming blogs will look at interventions and some more in-depth look at times when people (or us) have changed our behaviour.
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