Conditionality and normative models in the field of social thinking

In the field of study of social representations and the structural approach the works focusing on the question of norms date back about fifteen years. The conditionality theory (Gaymard, 1999, 2014) helps to explain the normative variations and legitimate transgressions. Its application to the field of traffic psychology shows that social norms exist alongside the system of legal norms and can offset the discrepancy between the rule and its application. Other studies defend the existence of normative models in social representations. These normative models refer to specific contexts and testify to the ability of individuals to call upon other representations than their own but they also confirm the place of reference models. In this case, the question of norms must be connected to the influence of certain groups in the social representation. This chapter recounts these different aspects starting from illustrative examples linked to safety, educational or cultural problems (e.g., Gaymard, 2003b, 2007; Gaymard & Andrés, 2009)