Internalizing Norms: A Cognitive Model of (Social) Norms' Internalization

Abstract

Internalization is at study in social-behavioural sciences and moral philosophy; lately, the debate was revamped within the rationality approach to the study of cooperation and compliance because internalization is a less costly and more reliable enforcement system than social control. But how does it work? So far, poor attention was paid to mental underpinnings of internalization. This article advocates a rich cognitive model of different types, degrees and factors of internalization. In future work, it will be implemented on a normative agent platform to simulate the individual and social effect of internalization.