Social psychology plays an important role in explicating mechanisms of legal effect. From a social psychological perspective, laws and regulations can be classified according to the type of causal pathway by which behaviors are modified, for example, through changing attitudes, normative beliefs or self-efficacy concerning a specific behavior.

This paper outlines plausible pathways for many types of laws/regulations, including: 1) prevention and safety laws; 2) environmental exposure regulations; 3) laws regulating availability of health enhancing and health-inhibiting products and resources; and, 4) "soft" laws that prompt or inform rather than command the ultimate actor (for example, labeling laws).

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Authors:

• Marc B. Schure, PhD, EdM, Oregon State University
• Kazi Faria Islam, MPH, Montana State University
• Brian R. Flay, Oregon State University

The first edition publication is available for download at the Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN): http://ssrn.com/abstract=2027992