Led by AICE affiliate Gerben A. van Kleef, together with Astrid C. Homan, Eftychia Stamkou, Annika K. Karinen, and Michele J. Gelfand, this review and theory paper challenges the long-standing assumption that norm violations are uniformly met with disapproval and punishment. Drawing on research across psychology, behavioural economics, management science, and empirical aesthetics, the authors show that observer responses are in fact highly variable, ranging from opposition to acquiescence to active support.

The paper introduces the Violation Appraisal Response (VAR) model, which links observers' subjective interpretations of norm violations to distinct behavioural responses through three emotional pathways:

• Perceived disruptiveness elicits condemnatory emotions (anger, disgust, contempt), driving oppositional responses (confrontation, punishment, social exclusion, gossip, whistleblowing) that help sustain norms.
• Perceived personal threat elicits apprehensive emotions (fear, anxiety), driving acquiescent responses (tolerance, avoidance) that allow norms to erode.
• Perceived benefit elicits appreciative emotions (admiration, gratitude, elevation, awe), driving supportive responses (endorsement, emulation) that promote norm change.

The authors argue that this framework offers a parsimonious account of why the same norm violation can be punished in one context, ignored in another, and applauded in a third, and how everyday emotional reactions ultimately shape the trajectory of social norms over time. They also outline a broad research agenda spanning the role of norm characteristics, violator and observer traits, cultural context, and the social and temporal dynamics of norm change.

Link to paper