Intragroup Judgements of Norm Violators Under the Threat of COVID-19

The Black Sheep Effect (BSE) posits that deviant in-group members are judged more harshly than deviant out-group members. The present investigation sought to delineate the relative contribution of both group identity and norms to the expression of the BSE. Two studies were conducted in the context of threats (i.e., pathogen intensity and variations in group norms) induced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each study tested three basic hypotheses. First, that norm violators (i.e., black sheep) would be more negatively evaluated than norm followers. Second, that both group identity and norms would be associated with the negative evaluations of norm violators. Third, that norm violators would be judged more harshly by those who experience the greatest threat (i.e., via pathogen intensity in Study 1 and norm strength in Study 2). Both studies revealed that in-group members who violated COVID-19 norms were judged more harshly than in-group members who adhered to these norms. No evidence was found to show that social identity or threat (as variously manipulated) impacted the BSE. Norms, however, did make a modest contribution to explaining the BSE in both studies. Study 2 revealed that only prescriptive norms were associated with the expression of the BSE. These findings were confirmed in re-analysis of the results found in Study 1. These findings support the idea that prescriptive rather descriptive norms drive the BSE.