Should Individuals Think Like Their Group? A Descriptive‐to‐Prescriptive Tendency Toward Group‐Based Beliefs

Across three pre‐registered studies with children (ages 4–9) and adults (N = 303), we examined whether how a group is predicted evaluations of how group members should be (i.e., a descriptive‐to‐prescriptive tendency), under conditions in which the descriptive group norms entailed beliefs that were fact‐based (Study 1), opinion‐based (Study 2), and ideology‐based (Study 3). Overall, participants tended to disapprove of individuals with beliefs that differed from their group, but the extent of this tendency varied across development and as a function of the belief under consideration (e.g., younger children did not show a descriptive‐to‐prescriptive tendency in the context of facts and ideologies, suggesting that they prioritized truth over group norms). Implications for normative reasoning and ideological polarization are discussed.