ABSTRACT
As we have seen in the preceding chapters, social judgment norms always involve the attribution of value to persons, objects, or events. The value in question does not pertain solely to the affective dimension of those persons, objects, or events, i.e., their desirability, but also to a quasi-economic dimension that corresponds to their function in society, their social utility. This kind of value supplies immediate information about what one can expect from or do with the persons, objects, or events we encounter in an organizational context. In this view, social judgment norms define criteria for deciding both what is desirable and what is useful for the proper functioning of society, and thus for attaining social goals (Beauvois, 1984, 1995).
