Home > E Words > emergent norm theory

emergent norm theory

Definition of Emergent Norm Theory

(noun) A theory of crowds which posits that crowd participants develop standards among themselves as to group function, goals, and operation, which then guide their behavior.

Emergent Norm Theory Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: e·mer·gent norm the·o·ry

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /i-mUHR-juhnt nORm thEE-uhr-ree/
  • British English – /i-mUHR-juhnt nAWm thIUH-ree/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /ˈimərʤənt nɔrm ˈθiəri/
  • British English – /ɪˈmɜːʤənt nɔːm ˈθɪəri/

Usage Note

  • Plural: emergent norm theories

Additional Information

Related Terms


Works Consulted

Abercrombie, Nicholas, Stephen Hill, and Bryan Turner. 2006. The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology. 5th ed. London: Penguin.

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 5th ed. 2011. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. 2010. The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology. 2nd ed. New York: Norton.

Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.

Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Hughes, Michael, and Carolyn J. Kroehler. 2011. Sociology: The Core. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Scott, John, and Gordon Marshall. 2005. A Dictionary of Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.

Shepard, Jon M. 2010. Sociology. 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Shepard, Jon M., and Robert W. Greene. 2003. Sociology and You. New York: Glencoe.

Stolley, Kathy S. 2005. The Basics of Sociology. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Tischler, Henry L. 2011. Introduction to Sociology. 10th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Turner, Bryan S., ed. 2006. The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).

Cite the Definition of Emergent Norm Theory

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “emergent norm theory.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 24, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/emergent-norm-theory/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

emergent norm theory. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/emergent-norm-theory/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “emergent norm theory.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 24, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/emergent-norm-theory/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“emergent norm theory.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/emergent-norm-theory/>.