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From the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley

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Make Bridging a Norm

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Four young people sit on outdoor steps, smiling and looking at phones together.

How to Do It

Social norms exert a subtle but powerful influence on our lives. Research shows that when people believe a behavior is common and expected of them, they’re more likely to engage in that behavior. This can be challenging for bridging differences at a time when louder, more divisive voices tend to attract more attention. However, there is solid evidence that when leaders effectively convey that bridging is the norm, they have a far-reaching influence on the entire community.

One of the most reliable ways to spread social norms is through effective messaging—but not all messages work equally well. Fortunately, studies have identified several important communications principles that make messages more likely to influence our attitudes and behavior, including toward people different from ourselves. To make bridging differences a norm, messages should:

  1. Feel Relatable: People are more likely to embrace bridge-building if they see and hear from peers like them who have already tried to bridge differences—ideally, peers from their own particular social group.
     
  2. Seem Plausible: If people are asked to believe something that defies their experience—for instance, that it’s always enjoyable to talk with someone who doesn’t share their beliefs—they may become less likely to practice that behavior. One way to convey that a behavior is becoming the norm is to suggest that it’s gaining momentum—for example, explaining that “more and more” people are showing openness to other viewpoints.
     
  3. Be Shared Publicly: People are more likely to be influenced by messages about social norms when they know that others are receiving the same messages. So while it might seem effective to send pro-bridging messages to people individually, there will likely be greater impact from information delivered in social settings.
     
  4. Speak to One’s Identity: Messages that promote bridging as a norm are more likely to resonate with people when they speak to a core part of their identity, such as their campus affiliation or their religious faith.
     

Social norms exert a subtle but powerful influence on our lives: Research shows that when people believe a behavior is common and expected of them, they’re more likely to engage in that behavior. This can be challenging for bridging differences on college campuses, a setting where louder, more divisive voices tend to attract more attention. However, there is solid evidence that when leaders effectively convey that bridging is the norm on their campus, they have a far-reaching influence on the entire community.

One of the most reliable ways to spread social norms is through effective messaging—but not all messages work equally well. Fortunately, studies have identified several important communications principles that make messages more likely to influence our attitudes and behavior, including toward people different from ourselves. To make bridging differences a norm on campus, messages should:

  1. Feel Relatable: Students (and others) are more likely to embrace bridge-building if they see and hear from peers like them who have already tried to bridge differences—ideally, peers from their own particular social group.
     
  2. Seem Plausible: If people are asked to believe something that defies their experience—for instance, that it’s always enjoyable to talk with someone who doesn’t share their beliefs—they may become less likely to practice that behavior. One way to convey that a behavior is becoming the norm is to suggest that it’s gaining momentum—for example, explaining that “more and more” students are showing openness to other viewpoints.
     
  3. Be Shared Publicly: People are more likely to be influenced by messages about social norms when they know that others are receiving the same messages. So while it might seem effective to send pro-bridging messages to students individually, such as in a packet to incoming students before they arrive on campus, there will likely be greater impact from information delivered in social settings, like during a welcome address at orientation or on social media.
     
  4. Speak to One’s Identity: Messages that promote bridging as a norm are more likely to resonate with people when they speak to a core part of their identity, such as their campus affiliation (“All Bruins keep an open mind”) or their religious faith.
     
The Practice on Campus

An experiment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, led by psychologists Sohad Murrar, Mitchell Campbell, and Markus Brauer, provides a textbook example of why and how to promote pro-bridging norms on a campus. In some classes, UW-Madison students watched a video in which fellow Madison students expressed, unscripted, how much they appreciated the diversity on their campus and said they enjoyed getting to know students from different backgrounds. In the video, scholars also shared research finding that, while some discrimination exists on campus, most students on campus attempt to behave in a non-prejudiced and inclusive manner. Students in other classes viewed a video on bias and micro-aggressions that didn't mention what UW-Madison students actually think or do.

The researchers also put up posters on campus reporting that most UW-Madison students endorse diversity and try to behave inclusively, and they had a deputy vice chancellor send an email to some students reporting that, according to the university's most recent climate survey, most students are strongly committed to diversity.

Several weeks later, the researchers surveyed all students in the study about their attitudes toward other social groups on campus. Compared with the students who saw the video on bias or read a statement describing the university's abstract commitment to diversity, the students who learned that openness to diverse groups is a social norm among their peers expressed more positive attitudes toward other social groups, rejected racism and discrimination more, and reported an increased sense of belonging on campus months later. The results suggest that when students learn that pro-bridging attitudes and behaviors are pervasive on their campus, particularly among fellow students, they are likely to follow suit, making bridge-building even more of a norm.
 

The Research

Studies the practice is based on.

Exposure to peers' pro-diversity attitudes increases inclusion and reduces the achievement gap.

Murrar, S., Campbell, M.R. & Brauer, M. (2020). Nature Human Behavior, 4, 889–897.

Dynamic norms promote sustainable behavi or, even if it is counternormative.

Sparkman, G., & Walton, G. M. (2017). Psychological Science, 28(11), 1663–1674.

Norm perception as a vehicle for social change.

Tankard, M. E., & Paluck, E. L. (2016). Social Issues and Policy Review, 10(1), 181–211.

Related Resources

Reflecting on Learning Skills to Bridge Differences for Parents and Teens

Parents play a powerful role in helping teens become bridge builders—young people who can connect with others across differences. These conversations aren’t always easy; talking about identity, values, or social group differences can bring up uncomfortable or emotional moments. But honest, open dialogue gives teens the skills they need to better understand others and engage respectfully with people who see the world differently.

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