Misperceiving A Code of Silence

This study explores misperceptions about peer norms in support of telling authorities about weapons at school and whether perceptions predict personal support for telling authorities. Anonymous surveys were conducted among youth in 30 schools (Grades 5-12) in six states ( n = 12,903) between 2006 and 2014. Personal support for telling principals, teachers/counselors, police/security, and parents, separately, about weapons at school was measured as well as perception of peers' support for telling authorities. Most students in most schools personally thought that students should tell authorities about weapons. However, depending on the authority, 37% to 52% of students mistakenly believed that most students did not support students telling authorities. Regression analysis revealed that perceiving support for telling authorities as normative among peers was highly predictive of personal support-much more so than other predictors. Thus, misperceptions of the peer norm as a code of silence may contribute to the problem of weapons at school

Norm (philosophy) · Normative · Peer influence · Peer support · Perception · Political science · Silence · Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression · Law · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology

• Misperceived norms and personal sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and fruit and vegetable intake among students in the United States

  Open Access•Jessica M Perkins, H Wesley Perkins et al.•Appetite•2018

  Incluir item

• Norms and Attitudes about Being an Active Bystander

  Open Access•Jessica M Perkins, H Wesley Perkins et al.•Journal of Youth and Adolescence•2020

  Incluir item

• Ethical Decisions between the Conflicting Priorities of Legality and Group Loyalty

  Julia Kleinewiese, Peter Graeff•Deviant Behavior•2021

  Incluir item

• Perceiving the Community Norms of Alcohol Use among Students

  H Wesley Perkins, Alan D Berkowitz•International Journal of the…•1986

  Incluir item

• Changing Norms to Change Behavior

  Dale T Miller, Deborah A Prentice•Annual Review of Psychology•2016

  Incluir item

• Targeting Misperceptions of Descriptive Drinking Norms

  Clayton Neighbors, Mary E Larimer et al.•Journal of Consulting and…•2004

  Incluir item

• Using normative social influence to promote conservation among hotel guests

  Open Access•Wesley Schultz, Wesley P Schultz et al.•Social Influence•2008

  Incluir item

• Supportive school climate and student willingness to seek help for bullying and threats of violence

  Open Access•Megan Eliot, Dewey Cornell et al.•Journal of School Psychology•2010

  Incluir item

• Misperceiving the college drinking norm and related problems

  H Wesley Perkins, Michael Haines et al.•Journal of Studies on Alcohol and…•2005

  Incluir item

• Changing Behavior With Normative Feedback Interventions

  P Wesley Schultz•Basic and Applied Social Psychology•1999

  Incluir item

• Studies of independence and conformity

  Solomon E Asch•The Psychological Monographs•1956

  Incluir item

• Nature and Operation of Attitudes

  Icek Ajzen•Annual Review of Psychology•2001

  Incluir item

• Pluralistic ignorance and misperception of social norms concerning cheating in dating relationships

  Open Access•D Boon, Susan D Boon et al.•Personal Relationships•2014

  Incluir item

• Actual Versus Perceived HIV Testing Norms, and Personal HIV Testing Uptake

  Open Access•Jessica M Perkins, Viola N Nyakato et al.•AIDS and Behavior•2017

  Incluir item

• Attitude-behavior relations

  Icek Ajzen, Martin Fishbein•Psychological Bulletin•1977

  Incluir item

• Norm Perception as a Vehicle for Social Change

  Open Access•Margaret Tankard, Elizabeth Levy Paluck•Social Issues and Policy Review•2016

  Incluir item

• Using social norms to reduce bullying

  Open Access•H Wesley Perkins, David W Craig et al.•Group Processes & Intergroup…•2011

  Incluir item

• Normative Misperceptions of Abuse Among Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence

  Open Access•Clayton Neighbors, Denise D Walker et al.•Violence Against Women•2010

  Incluir item

• An Experimental Approach to the Study of Attitudes

  Muzafer Sherif•Sociometry•1937

  Incluir item

• Delinquency as a Consequence of Misperception

  Jacob T N Young, FRANK M WEERMAN•Social Problems•2013

  Incluir item

• Underestimating Protection and Overestimating Risk

  Melissa A Lewis, D Litt et al.•The Journal of Sex Research•2012

  Incluir item

• The salience of social referents

  Elizabeth Levy Paluck, H Shepherd•Journal of Personality and Social…•2012

  Incluir item

• A Qualitative Investigation of Averted School Shooting Rampages

  Open Access•Jeffrey A Daniels, Adam M Volungis et al.•The Counseling Psychologist•2009

  Incluir item

• Social Theory and Social Structure

  Robert King Merton•Social Theory and Social Structure•1968

  Incluir item

• A focus theory of normative conduct

  Robert B Cialdini, Raymond R Reno et al.•Journal of Personality and Social…•1990

  Incluir item

• Supply of alcohol to underage drinkers

  Open Access•Sandra C Jones, Kate L Francis•Social Science & Medicine•2015

  Incluir item

• The Code of Silence in Schools

  Open Access•Lee Ann Slocum, Finn‐aage Esbensen et al.•Youth & Society•2017

  Incluir item