Observability, Social Proximity, and the Erosion of Norm Compliance

We study how an individual's compliance with social norms is influenced by other actors' norm compliance. In a repeated non-strategic Take-or-Give donation experiment we show that giving is considered socially appropriate while taking is sociallyinappropriate.Observing norm violations erodesanindividual'sownnormcompliance.Weshowthatthe erosion of norm compliance is led by a change in norm-related beliefs.This change has a major effect on individuals who initially obey the norm,driving them to non-compliance, whereas initially non-compliant individuals do not change their taking behavior.Erosion is halted when individuals have even minimal social proximity to those they observe: individuals now also pay attention to norm followers.