This study aimed to examine the antecedent conditions of pluralistic ignorance. We hypothesized that when people perceive a gap between a group member’s actual behavior versus preference, they would attribute it to a sort of norm within the group, and conform accordingly. In Study 1, we conducted a longitudinal survey regarding punctuality norm among college students. In Study 2, we conducted a laboratory experiment to examine the phenomenon step-by-step. Participants entered a laboratory in groups of five and were asked to taste and evaluate two kinds of water in rotation. All participants were led to believe that they were fourth in turn to taste the water, and were told that the first three participants had selected the poor tasting water (Water L), hence participants were informed as to which water was of higher quality. As we predicted, the more the participants believed that the prior participants personally preferred the other water in spite of their selection, the more they tended to conform to the majority’s behavior and select Water L, because they perceived the group norm should to be followed.

This study examined the factors that influence whether people cooperate with government policies regarding natural resource management. We investigated the psychological processes that promote cooperative intentions towards such policies among rural residents, who tended to be concerned about natural resource management, and urban residents, who were less concerned about this issue. This study focused on grassland management in Inner Mongolia, China. Specifically, a survey was conducted to analyze the effects of procedural justice, confidence in the government, and legality on the subjects’ intention to cooperate with government policies regarding grassland management in Inner Mongolia. The rural residents (n=146) were villagers, mostly herders, whereas the urban residents (n=262) lived in Hohhot city. The results indicated that among the rural residents confidence in the government had a marked influence on their intention to cooperate, whereas among the urban residents legality modulated the effects of procedural justice on their cooperative intentions. Therefore, this suggested that even though various actors contribute to shaping social policy, only the values emphasized by the majority of society have a significant effect on the success of a policy.