Revising Rules, Shifting Schemas: Toward an Expanded Formal Account of Norm Change

Abstract

Norms hold a central role in social philosophy, with Cristina Bicchieri's game-theoretic approach being one of the most influential accounts. Bicchieri's framework has inspired numerous successful interventions, improving outcomes across diverse communities worldwide. However, certain aspects of Bicchieri's theory remain underdeveloped, limiting its ability to predict the best strategies for norm change. To address this, we present a simple formal model that clarifies the relationship between key components of her theory—schemas and behavioral rules—offering theorists and practitioners new tools for modeling and measuring social and behavioral change.