The Meta-Norm

The Meta-Norm

Reviewed by Faisal Zaidi

The expectation that those who fail to join in enforcing a norm can themselves be marked.

What it is

A term from Robert Axelrod's modelling, drawn on in The Elephant in the Brain. Enforcing a norm costs the enforcer something, so a second rule that marks those who do not enforce is what keeps enforcement going.

In effect

In the article on the reverse dominance hierarchy, it helps explain why joining the group's check on a would-be boss can be worth doing even when it carries a cost for the individual.

What it does not say

The result comes from a model of simulated agents and is not a measurement of people. It does not say that people are marked for failing to enforce in every group.

Sources

  1. Simler, K., & Hanson, R. The Elephant in the Brain.