01838nas a2200205   4500008004100000245006700041210006200108300000800170490000700178520122700185653002301412653001601435653002101451653002101472653002401493653001701517100003301534700002101567856004401588       2023                        eng d00aThe Behavior of Information: A Reconsideration of Social Norms0 aBehavior of Information A Reconsideration of Social Norms  a1110 v133 a<div class="html-p">Do social norms really matter, or are they just behavioral idiosyncrasies that become associated with a group? Social norms are generally considered as a collection of formal or informal rules, but where do these rules come from, and why do we follow them? The definition for social norm varies by field of study, and how norms are established and maintained remains substantially open to questions across the behavioral sciences. In reviewing the literature on social norms across multiple disciplines, we found that the common thread appears to be information. Here, we show that norms are not merely rules or strategies, but part of a more rudimentary social process for capturing and retaining information within a social network. We have found that the emergence of norms can be better explained as an efficient system of communicating, filtering, and preserving experiential information. By reconsidering social norms and institutions in terms of information, we show that they are not merely conventions that facilitate the coordination of social behavior. They are, instead, the objective of that social coordination and, potentially, of the evolutionary adaptation of sociality itself.</div>
10acultural evolution10ainformation10anormative belief10asocial cognition10asocial institutions10asocial norms1 aLoughmiller-Cardinal, J., A.1 aCardinal, J., S.  uhttps://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/13/5/111