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When Law Changes Attitudes Within the Integrated Approach

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When Do People Obey Laws?

Part of the book series: International Law and Economics ((ILEC))

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Abstract

This chapter considers when and under what conditions will laws lead to attitudinal and behavioral change in the long run. First, it considers the conditions necessary for continued compliance through acquiescence, identification, and internalization. Second, it considers the conditions under which individuals who may have complied with the law through acquiescence (fear of legal sanction) or weak identification (fear of social sanctions) can be motivated to comply with laws voluntarily (through strong identification and/or internalization). In the process, it identifies the social and institutional conditions that societies and policymakers can focus on to create a general culture in favor of legal compliance. As importantly, it highlights the limits of using only laws and formal enforcement mechanisms for creating lasting attitudinal change. In fact, as the chapter discusses in the last sections, over-emphasizing the role of law and legal enforcement can have the perverse effect of undermining conditions necessary for future compliance with the law.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Roy (2022a, b) explains how initial compliance decisions can create cascades in favor of compliance.

  2. 2.

    As explained in Hogg (2003), some social identities such as ethnic groups or nationality are referred to as “ascribed” social identities since they are not chosen by the individual while others such as one’s political leanings and professional membership are considered as “achieved” social identities. However, the prominence of these identities, including ascribed social identities, can evolve.

  3. 3.

    Supra Chap. 2, 49–50.

  4. 4.

    Supra Chap. 2, Sect. 3.2.

  5. 5.

    To this extent, continued compliance through identification can resemble compliance to social norms since both are contingent on social expectations about others’ behaviors and attitudes.

  6. 6.

    Similarly, if we were complying with a law presuming it will help us better coordinate or cooperate with other people then continued compliance will require that compliance with the law help achieve these instrumental goals.

  7. 7.

    The precise discussion on how we react to two contradictory influences, i.e., the state prohibiting the behavior and our social group prescribing it is considered more in detail in Chap. 4 where the book considers the interaction between law and social norms in shaping behaviors.

  8. 8.

    Leon Festinger is considered as one of the most influential psychologists of his time for developing this concept of cognitive dissonance. Since, his initial concept has been developed well beyond the original idea introduced by him. Harmon-Jones (2019) provides the directions in which this idea has developed since then.

  9. 9.

    Leippe and Eisenstadt (1994) observed how white American students being compelled to write articles favoring a policy favoring black minorities favorably impacted their attitudes on the policy; Cooper and Feldman (2019) studied how dissonance was induced for older individuals through induced compliance paradigm and observed that dissonance could be created even at older ages.

  10. 10.

    Harmon-Jones and Mills (2019) at p. 8—”When there is no choice about engaging in the behavior, dissonance is minimal, because there is sufficient justification for the behavior.”

  11. 11.

    Supra Chap. 3, 74–75.

  12. 12.

    This is, of course, presuming that if given a choice they would rather not be paying dowry.

  13. 13.

    In this case, it is also important to note that even if we expect that we could bribe the traffic police and get away from the legally imposed fine, there is still a cost associated with non-compliance, i.e., the cost of the bribe. The least-cost behavioral response is still to wear the seatbelt. Therefore, compliance through acquiescence is more likely to create and maintain initial compliance than in other more complex social situations like dowry and FGM practice (in which there are greater benefits from non-compliance like securing the future of one’s daughter).

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  1. Institute of Law and Economics, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Shubhangi Roy

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Roy, S. (2024). When Law Changes Attitudes Within the Integrated Approach. In: When Do People Obey Laws?. International Law and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-53055-5_3

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