Skip to content
AFTER CERTAINTY

article

A Focus Theory of Normative Conduct

Cialdini, Robert B., Raymond R. Reno, and Carl A. Kallgren. "A Focus Theory of Normative Conduct." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 58, no. 6 (1990): 1015–1026.

Why this matters here

Cialdini, Reno, and Kallgren's focus theory of normative conduct shows that norms guide behavior when they are made salient—people act on what the situation brings into focus. When Others Look to You extends that to leadership modeling: influence amplifies what you showed—tolerance, silence, correction—more than what you meant.

Open in graph