The Spreading of Disorder

TLDR

Broken windows theory posits that visible disorder encourages further disorder, yet empirical evidence for its spread remains weak. The study aimed to generate and test hypotheses about how disorder spreads in neighborhoods. The authors conducted six field experiments to examine the mechanisms of disorder diffusion. The experiments revealed that witnessing violations of one norm increases the likelihood of violating additional norms, thereby spreading disorder.

Abstract

Imagine that the neighborhood you are living in is covered with graffiti, litter, and unreturned shopping carts. Would this reality cause you to litter more, trespass, or even steal? A thesis known as the broken windows theory suggests that signs of disorderly and petty criminal behavior trigger more disorderly and petty criminal behavior, thus causing the behavior to spread. This may cause neighborhoods to decay and the quality of life of its inhabitants to deteriorate. For a city government, this may be a vital policy issue. But does disorder really spread in neighborhoods? So far there has not been strong empirical support, and it is not clear what constitutes disorder and what may make it spread. We generated hypotheses about the spread of disorder and tested them in six field experiments. We found that, when people observe that others violated a certain social norm or legitimate rule, they are more likely to violate other norms or rules, which causes disorder to spread.