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# How Norms Depend on the Presence and Status of Observers: The Relational Contingency of Everyday Behaviors in 90 Societies

## Details

**Authors** Simpson et al.

**Year** 2026

**Publisher** American Sociological Review

**Discipline** Sociology

**Secondary disciplines** Anthropology

[Read it at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.1177/00031224261464586) 
10.1177/00031224261464586

## In authors' words

### What they found (results)

Across more than 25,000 people in 90 societies, everyday behaviors judged acceptable in private became significantly more constrained when others were present, and even more so when the observer held higher status, with the presence-effect but not the status-effect varying across cultures.

## Commentary

### In short

Whether a behavior is judged appropriate is set relationally by who is watching and from what social standing, so the observing relationship functions as a perspective that resets the norm.

**Patterns it shows** R, P

**Added** 2026-08-28

**How to cite this** Simpson et al. (2026). How Norms Depend on the Presence and Status of Observers: The Relational Contingency of Everyday Behaviors in 90 Societies. American Sociological Review.