Understanding the Motivations Behind Breaking Social Norms

Abstract

This study is targeting predictors of why people violate social norms, i.e., psychological needs, social expectations, and sensation-seeking. Participants were 30 participants between 18-23 years who were volunteers from Mohali and rated on standard psychological scales such as the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction Scale and Sensation-Seeking Scale. The results revealed strong correlations among competence, autonomy, relatedness, and other sensation- seeking characteristics and emphasized the salience of psychological needs and social interaction in norm-breaking behavior. The results enhance the explanation of how and why one is violating society's norms and how individual characteristics are involved in doing so. The study charts the intricate dynamics of social demand and intrinsic motivation and provides orientations to future research and interventions towards the realization of social cohesion.