Welcome to the Web Site
of the National Social Norms Institute

The National Social Norms Institute opened its doors in 2006 at the University of Virginia, a nationally renowned public institution.  The Institute’s origins began in 2000 with the establishment of the National Social Norms Resource Center at Northern Illinois University.  Since moving to UVA, the mission expanded to include research, evaluation, and dissemination of information on the social norms approach to the field. Our goals are to demonstrate and facilitate the extension of the methodology to other health issues and other populations. The NSNI advisory board consists of prominent researchers and academicians in the field.

The National Social Norms Institute is made possible through a generous gift from the Anheuser Busch companies and its charitable foundation.

NSNI is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2009 National Social Norms Institute Dissertation Fellowships. These fellowships, valued at up to $20,000 each, are awarded in support of up to two years of work towards completion of dissertation writing.

Edward Glazer of Michigan State University (proposed title: The Social Norms Approach and Peer Referent Groups Online and Off: Drinking Moderation, Involvement, and Reactants") and Joel Grossbard of the University of Washington (proposed title: "Conform to the Norm? Normative Misperceptions of Drinking, Substance Use and Body Image Among College Students Over Time") were selected for their potential to contribute to the understanding of the theory, practice, and evaluation of the social norms approach.

You can learn more about the recipients and their work here ;please join us in congratulating Ed and Joel !

Recent Research

An impressive number of articles were published last year concerning the role of social norms in a broad range of areas, including gambling, tax compliance, energy conservation, risky sexual behavior, and high-risk alcohol consumption. As always, complete abstracts for these articles are available in the section of our web site devoted to Recent Research.

Allen, J.D., Mohllajee, A., Shelton, R.C., Othus, M.K.D., Fontenot, H. B., & Hanna, R. (2009). Stage of adoption of the human papillomavirus vaccine among college women. Preventive Medicine, in press, corrected proof.

Croom, K., Lewis, D., Marchell, T., Lesser, M.L., Reyna, V.F., Kubicki-Bedford, L., et al. (2009). Impact of an online alcohol education course on behavior and harm for incoming first-year college students: Short-term evaluation of a randomized trial. Journal of American College Health, 57 (4), 445-454.

Duffett-Leger, L.A., Letourneau, N.L., & Croll, J.C.  (2008). Cervical cancer screening practices among university women. Journal of Obstetric Gynecologic and Neonatal Nursing, 37, 572-581.  

Doumas, D.M., McKinley, L.L., & Book, P. (2009). Evaluation of two web-based alcohol interventions for mandated college students. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 36, 65-74.

Epstein, J.A., Griffin, K.W., & Botvin, G.J.  (2008). A social influence model of alcohol use for inner-city adolescents:  Family drinking, perceived drinking norms, and perceived social benefits of drinking. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 69, 397-405.  

Mahler, H.I.M., Kulik, J.A., Butler, H.A., Gerrand, M., & Gibbons, F.X. (2008). Social norms information enhances the efficacy of an appearance-based sun protection intervention. Social Science and Medicine, 67, 321-329.

Neighbors, C., O’Connor, R.M., Lewis, Melisa A., Chawla, N., Lee, C.M., & Fossos, N. (2008). The relative impact of injunctive norms on college student drinking: The role of reference group. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. 22 (4), 576-581.

Turner, J., Perkins, H.W., & Bauerle, J. (2008). Declining negative consequences related to alcohol misuse among students exposed to a social norms marketing intervention on a college campus. Journal of American College Health, 57 (1), 85-93.