Exploring the joint dynamics of laws and social norms helps understand when social norms are sticky or adaptive. Using the example of the social and physical distancing measures introduced to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, we studied whether introducing, and then lifting, distancing regulations led individuals to quickly change their habits, not only by modifying the monetary incentives of rule violators but also by shifting the individuals’ perception of the appropriateness of social encounters. We conducted an online incentivized experiment in France, where we elicited the same participants’ perceived norm and social distancing behavior every week for three months. We find that both norm perception and behavior shifted as soon as the government introduced or removed social distancing measures. This effect was fast acting and long lasting, a result that highlights the importance of the expressive power of the law for norm formation and behavior.

探索法律和社会规范的联合动态有助于理解社会规范何时具有粘性或适应性。以 2020 年为遏制 COVID-19 大流行而采取的社会和身体疏远措施为例，我们研究了引入然后取消疏远法规是否会导致个人迅速改变他们的习惯，而不仅仅是通过修改违反规则者的金钱激励而且还通过改变个人对社交接触适当性的看法。我们在法国进行了一项在线激励实验，我们在三个月内每周都会引发相同参与者的感知规范和社会疏远行为。我们发现，一旦政府引入或取消社会隔离措施，规范认知和行为都会发生变化。这种效果见效快，持续时间长，