For decades, economic theories have been mostly based on rational choices made by selfish individuals to maximize their utility, while sociology spent a lot of efforts describing the environment of individuals and explaining how this environment shapes theirs decisions. However, the last thirty years have seen many sociological concepts appear in the economic literature. For example, behavioral economics introduces things such as envy or altruism in economic theories. Other notions such as social capital, social norms, trust or community became more and more present in economic papers. The objective of this new strand of literature is to engage into sort of socioeconomic approach and to shed some light on interpersonal relationships. This thesis belongs to this socioeconomic approach, and tries to explore new aspects of various concepts. The two first papers are theoretical. In the first one, we explore the negative side of social capital, which has not been studied extensively, by investigating the effect of a norm on consumers when moving is costly. In the second one, we introduce a sociological concept, namely social identity, in a classic economic model in order to show how social interactions modifies its results, and hence, the importance of taking such interpersonal relationships into account. The third and final paper is an empirical case study of social capital in Belgium, an exercise that has not been done before, with the objective of comparing the level of social capital between the various regions of the country. In the first paper, The Tyranny of Social Norms on Individual Behavior, we study the negative effect of the existence of a norm and moving cost inside a community. Because of deviation cost (such as social shame or peer pressure for example), consumers inside a given community may not reach their ideal consumption, that is the consumption they would have without social constraint. On the other hand, moving to another community may be too expensive (in terms of social assets needed to be part of the new community). Hence, agents may get stuck in their community, being forced to consume something they do not want to. One example of such behavior is the underinvestment in education in some neighborhood. We show that such equilibria are possible and that they may be socially suboptimal equilibria as well as Pareto inferior equilibria. We also show that state intervention can correct those “bad” equilibria by operating transfers between agents in order to lower the moving cost. In the second paper, Social Identity, Advertising and Market Competition, we use a particular approach of a sociological concept, namely Social Identity, which focuses on the fact that people want to signal who they are to others. We assume that this is done by choosing a specific consumption (think of fashion market for example). We show that under this assumption, the classical result of Bertrand Price Competition does not hold anymore, and that prices and profits are positive, meaning that social identity creates market power for firms. Moreover, if the number of goods is limited, groups will be formed, and there will be multiple equilibria, each one corresponding to a particular partition of the consumers. We then add the possibility for firms to use advertising. This allows consumers to have a coordination tool, but increases also market powers for firms. We investigate the various equilibria that arise and their impact in term of welfare. In the third paper, Social Capital in Belgium, we construct an index of social capital using the European Social Survey, and we show that this index can be decomposed in three aspects: Trust, Social Activities and Social Network. We then study whether there is a difference in social capital between Belgium’s regions or not. We show that indeed, such difference exists, even when controlling for socioeconomic variables. In a third part, we investigate whether the level of social capital is higher or lower in Belgium than in other European countries, and we analyze European regional differences in term of social capital.

The study of appropriateness in language use is part of pragmatics, and how speakers give and respond to complements is a source of data in such studies. Compliments are strategies to explicitly or implicitly ascribe qualities that are mutually appreciated by the speaker and the addressee of a compliment. When individuals from different cultures interact in conversations, including the giving and receiving of compliments, and their behaviour is based on different conventions, it may lead to misunderstandings. Earlier studies (Cedar, 2006 & Sharifian, 2005, 2008) suggest that pragmatic transfer can cause cross-cultural misunderstanding. Second language users seem to transfer first language pragmatic rules into second language domains. This study will examine whether pragmatic transfer occurs in Swedish as first language into English as a second language in compliment responses. It will be assumed that pragmatic conventions are influenced by both linguistic and social norms. A Discourse completion task was used in order to obtain the data. The Discourse completion task consisted of one questionnaire in English, and one translated into Swedish, with situations where a compliment was given and the participant was instructed to imagine him/herself in that situation and give their most probable response to that compliment. The results showed that there was no significant difference between compliment responses given in Swedish and those given in English by native Swedish speakers. Thus, pragmatic transfer could have occurred. The Swedish participants’ compliment responses were also compared to compliment responses of Scottish English L1 speakers. The results are discussed in relation to other studies of pragmatic transfer in compliment responses, and suggestions for future research are considered.

The word “queer” generates mixed feelings. For some, it is a way to denigrate gays and lesbians, though, in recent years, those in LGBT communities have re-appropriated the term and have given it a more positive spin. This project aims to investigate exactly that kind of social action, specifically, looking at the way some take socially constructed norms and queer them in order to develop new meanings. First, this thesis explores how social norms impacted identity creation in ancient Rome and Greece. It then surveys the theories behind norms, along with their formation and maintenance in current society. Next, this project looks at queer theory and how norms have shaped the ways we build our identities, and vice versa. Finally, this research takes a rhetorical perspective by applying components of the canon to different elements of identity cultivation and presentation, with invention representing the former and delivery the latter.

Blood-borne infectious diseases such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) spread when the addicts share needles and injecting equipmentwithin contact networks. A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted in Winnipeg,Canada in December 2003 - September 2004. Through a special questionnaire, respondentswere asked to answer questions about themselves and about their contacts, about relationshipsand how they shared syringes and other injection supplies. Blood tests were used to identifywhether they carried any blood-borne infectious diseases. We selected some variables from theoriginal data set. The purpose was to explain who shared syringes and why these particularindividuals shared syringes. The key finding was that injection drug users were more concernedabout the health of others than their own health; this was shown particularly when it came tosharing of needles. Respondents chose to use their contacts needles despite knowing that thecontact was HCV positive, they were more cautious regarding HIV-infected contacts. Womenshared syringes to a greater extent with their sexual partners, while men more frequently sharedsyringes with his drug connections. It was also shown that ethnicity played a role regarding thesharing of needles.

This essay investigates how Southern society functions during the latter part of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century in America. This is done by looking for signs of patriarchy, religion and its influence, and also at the expectations on women in the story “A Rose For Emily”, which takes place in Jefferson, Mississippi. Patriarchy, religion and expectations on women are visible through the analysis of the protagonist Miss Emily’s relationship to her father, her relationship to her lover Homer Barron and when she is on her own at the end of her life. Furthermore, the townspeople are the narrators in this story and how they treat and view Miss Emily in the three examined parts of her life represents how the American South functions. Also, the analysis is done with a feminist theoretical perspective. Through the analysis, the conclusion is made that the South is a very patriarchal and sexist society. Men are considered to be the superior sex and rule over women. Because of the Puritan religion, women live in an oppressive environment and live very strict lives. For Southern women, marriage is a must if they want to survive both socially and financially.

Although alcohol use and related problems are highly prevalent in emerging adulthood overall, college students drink somewhat more than do their peers who do not attend college. The personal or social influences underlying this difference, however, are not yet well understood. The present study examined whether personality traits (i.e., self-regulation and sensation seeking) and peer influence (i.e., descriptive drinking norms) contributed to student status differences. At approximately age 22, 4-year college students (n = 331) and noncollege emerging adults (n = 502) completed web-based surveys, including measures of alcohol use, alcohol-related problems, personality, and social norms. College students drank only slightly more heavily. This small difference, however, reflected personality suppression. College students were lower in trait-based risk for drinking, and accounting for traits revealed a stronger positive association between attending college and drinking more heavily. Although noncollege emerging adults reported greater descriptive drinking norms for social group members, norms appeared to more strongly influence alcohol use among college students. Finally, despite drinking less, noncollege individuals experienced more alcohol-related problems. The association between attending college and drinking heavily may be larger than previously estimated, and it may be masked by biased selection into college as a function of both self-regulation and sensation seeking. Differing patterns of alcohol use, its predictors, and its consequences emerged for the college and noncollege samples, suggesting that differing intervention strategies may best meet the needs of each population. / text

The overall aim of this study is to gain an understanding of how student’sexperiences influence their perceptions about the use of alcohol during the study years. We focused on various factors that might have an impact on the individual’sperception and alcohol intake. These are: environmental influences such as family, school and friends and their dominant norms, context such as place and time in life and how individual and social identity affects student’sperceptions. The study is based on six empirical interviews, where quota sampling has been used for selecting participants. The theoretical framework is predominantly established in terms of norms, social deviance, group and self identity. Our findings show that the perception of alcohol and thereby the alcohol use has a connection to group identification, family relations, the student culture and that there are certain patterns related to individual and social identity aspects. We also noticed a difference in the perception of alcohol use over time, the primary focus of the differentiation suggesting that alcohol played a more significant part in the early stages of university studies.

The subject matter of this thesis can be summarized by a triplet of questions and answers. Showing what these questions and answers mean is, in essence, the goal of my project. The triplet goes like this: Q: How can we make progress in our understanding of social norms and norm compliance? A: Adopting a neurocomputational framework is one effective way to make progress in our understanding of social norms and norm compliance. Q: What could the neurocomputational mechanism of social norm compliance be? A: The mechanism of norm compliance probably consists of Bayesian - Reinforcement Learning algorithms implemented by activity in certain neural populations. Q: What could information about this mechanism tell us about social norms and social norm compliance? A: Information about this mechanism tells us that: a1: Social norms are uncertainty-minimizing devices. a2: Social norm compliance is one trick that agents employ to interact coadaptively and smoothly in their social environment. Most of the existing treatments of norms and norm compliance (e.g. Bicchieri 2006; Binmore 1993; Elster 1989; Gintis 2010; Lewis 1969; Pettit 1990; Sugden 1986; Ullmann‐Margalit 1977) consist in what Cristina Bicchieri (2006) refers to as “rational reconstructions.” A rational reconstruction of the concept of social norm “specifies in which sense one may say that norms are rational, or compliance with a norm is rational” (Ibid., pp. 10-11). What sets my project apart from these types of treatments is that it aims, first and foremost, at providing a description of some core aspects of the mechanism of norm compliance. The single most original idea put forth in my project is to bring an alternative explanatory framework to bear on social norm compliance. This is the framework of computational cognitive neuroscience. The chapters of this thesis describe some ways in which central issues concerning social norms can be fruitfully addressed within a neurocomputational framework. In order to qualify and articulate the triplet above, my strategy consists firstly in laying down the beginnings of a model of the mechanism of norm compliance behaviour, and then zooming in on specific aspects of the model. Such a model, the chapters of this thesis argue, explains apparently important features of the psychology and neuroscience of norm compliance, and helps us to understand the nature of the social norms we live by.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [127]-136).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-77). Also available on the Internet.