Norm Violation Of Social Norms

People expect others to remain a certain distance away depending on the relationship they have with someone. The closer a person is to another relationship wise (friends, relatives, partners) the more acceptable it is to be physically closer to them. The opposite can be said when strangers invade one’s personal boundaries at times it can be more than just uncomfortable having someone stand too close can also be seen as threatening. In an individualistic society, such as the one in the United States, being independent is highly encouraged. Rather than “all for one and one for all” people are told to work hard for themselves not for society as a whole. By sitting next to strangers not only did I infiltrate their boundaries but I also distracted them from their work by putting them in an uncomfortable situation. Since most subjects continued to do their work and mind their own business they held their needs as more important than interacting with me. When those two girls had an actual conversation with me and saw me as a friendly stranger rather than threatening they did not necessarily consider my needs but they did acknowledge my presence enough to set aside their work even if just for a moment. Being the social creatures that we are talking to others can put people at ease seeing that the people I sat next to took out their phones I saw that even though they did

Norms are rules for behavior that are based on values, made through society. Breaking one of the norms can sometimes make people uncomfortable, or even disgusted. There are general rules that can make a conversation comfortable, based on how well a person knows others that talking in the conversation (“Social Distance”). As I experimented with the disruption of conversational distance, I experienced two completely different reactions. Depending on the level of comfortability, norms can be accepted behavior or can be

Have you ever wondered why we hold the doors for those behind us? How about the reason we use utensils when we eat? What about why we always stand facing the doors in the elevator? These are all examples of what are known as social norms. According to Dr. Ward social norms are “basic rules of society that help people know what is and is not appropriate to do in any situation.” These basic rules of society are usually unwritten and unspoken and many of us pick up on them over time. Although, some social norms are very common throughout many cultures, there is a lot of them that vary depending on which culture you are apart of. For example, here in America, a major social norm that we have is when eating, the polite thing to do is to use spoons and forks, instead of digging in with your hands. For instance, we would not eat spaghetti with our hands but we would use a fork. In some Thiland cultures it is considered rude to put most foods in your mouth with a fork. Then there is also some cultures such as Chile in which it is impolite to use your hands for anything, even foods such as french fries, they use forks while eating.

The title of this odd social experiment is Parental Permission. The title will make more sense once you become more familiar with the project. The aim of this project was to break an everyday social norm; a social norm is a set of rules or behaviors that are considered acceptable in society or among a group. As citizens of a society we all adhere to many social norms, a very common social norm is tipping a waiter or simply wearing clothes.

Misfit. Rebel. Troublemaker. These are all names that may be given to people who go against the social norm. According to Andersen, Taylor, and Logio, the authors of Sociology: The Essentials, norms are defined as the specific cultural expectations for how to act in a given situation (2016). When someone disrupts the expectations, they commit a norm violation and may display deviant behavior. Since norms are so automatically built into our everyday lives, the rules of social interaction can be subtle and may be imperceptible to the people who participate in them. Therefore, sociologists often purposefully commit a norm violation in order to study what the rules or norms are. This approach, known as ethnomethodology, interprets society as being

It is actually a great deal of fun to behave outside of the socially excepted norm when you are with people that are unwilling to follow suit. I was able to get away with my behavior because no one was willing to say anything for fear of “causing a scene.” There is great power in having no shame. I eventually explained the reason for my behavior and all is well with my new friend.  During my second trial, I made the same approach with a female subject. I treated her gesture with more contempt than in my first trial. I did not feel as embarrassed or out of place as I did with the young man. I credit this comfort level to the fact that I had practiced this behavior once before and with practice comes confidence. This particular young lady was clearly an extroverted personality type and did not take my offense as gracefully as had the young man. This may have been because my offense was bolder than the first trial. She showed her offense by looking me up and down and with one hand on her hip, stated, “Anyways…” She proceeded to ignore my presence and continued her conversation with our mutual friend. This experiment obviously had a specific angle and expected result. The typical result will be discomfort and even mild hostility. I really enjoyed watching people struggle in between responding how they “ought” to instead of how the instinctively wanted to. For me, the most valuable lesson learned is the advantage

In our society we have a number of norms that we abide by. For example, there is an unwritten rule of how one should behave in an elevator. It is “proper” to face front, stand away from strangers, and not to look at others. When a social norm is broken people may respond with alarm, humour, fear, irritation, or an array of other emotions. When you think of a norm, you are probably thinking about simply being normal. But in psychology terms, norm means a standard or representative value for a group. A social norm is some sort of an expectation that our society has that is deemed normal by that society; they tell us which behaviors, thoughts, or feelings are appropriate within a given

When looking at the American Society, it’s interesting how everything seems to just work and run a certain way. Society is built on a set of social norms that set standards for everyday living. A norm can be defined as a way of thought or action that is acceptable by the majority of society. Individuals might not be sure why exactly they do something, but if everyone else is doing it, then why not? The social norm we’ve decided to break this semester is the idea of only taking what belongs to you. We plan on going to different dining areas on the Northern Illinois campus, and joining tables with complete strangers. While starting a conversation, we will have one girl begin sharing food off of the stranger’s plate and seeing how they react to this unconventional social interaction. Many individuals would not share their food with their friends, let alone total

During the social norm violation experiment, my partner and I found that by violating simple social norms people can react either calmly or highly confused. The social norm we chose to violate was asking for someone else’s seat in class and at lunch. My partner and I believed that most of the participants would react either confused or just give up their seat to be nice. To follow through with the experiment, my partner went up to ten different students while either in lunch or in class and politely asked to switch seats. I observed the whole situation, I watched the difference in each person’s body language, tone, attitude, and their answer. Most of the time, whenever my partner asked a student for their seat, they looked at her confused at

When I began to drive with my mom in the car, I was forced to obey the speed limit. However, after I started to drive on my own, I consistently speeded. Due to the fear of getting a ticket, I typically only travel five miles per hour over the speed limit. Although I do not drastically speed, I become irritated when I get stuck behind a vehicle traveling at or below the speed limit. So, for one of my norm-violations, I will become one of the people who drives the speed limit, and I will determine how others react. Another norm-violation I decided to participate in is walking on the wrong side of the hallway. Even though there is no specific rule or law stating that students are required to walk on the right side of the hallway, everyone walks on the appropriate side and violators of this norm sometimes get run over. Finally, a third norm I will violate is whispering when I talk. There are situations when whispering is appropriate; however, I will be whispering at the lunch table, at home, and in everyday settings where the environment is not quiet. By performing these three norm-violations, I hope to better comprehend why norms such as these exist in society.

My experiment consisted of me asking strangers, on the streets of Downtown Grand Rapids, for directions to Rosa Park’s Circle, and invading their personal space. To start, I would approach a stranger; tell them that I am lost, and that I am in need of directions to the Rosa Park’s Circle. As strangers began giving directions to me, I inched closer and closer to them. In addition to invading their personal space, I also held intense eye contact with them, trying my best not to blink. The whole time, although it was difficult, I kept a straight face while I performed my experiment. To make sure that I gathered enough information, and a variety of results, I tested my

I, Jen, decided to begin this norm violation at Casey’s. While standing in line to pay for my drink, I began inching closer to a middle aged man in front of me. I was so close that I was touching elbows with him. He looked at me and moved slowly away closer to the counter. He never spoke a word to me, but I could tell he did not like the fact that I was that close to

I am in a large crowd in New York City. There are many people in this crowd. Some are in a hurry, and others are simply walking slowly, at a near stop. The people in a hurry are bumping into the slower ones, and mumbling some rude things under their breath. The slower ones seem not to care or notice.

When people walk on the sidewalk, there are a group of people walking one way on the right side, and another group of people waking the other way on the left side. It is considered obnoxious or rude to walk against the flow of people on either side because you disrupt the current of people, and are much more likely to walk into the oncoming people. I decided to walk on the “wrong” side of the sidewalk on Saturday while walking to the football game. At first, there were not that many people, so it went unnoticed. But as I got closer and closer to the stadium, the more people began to walk on my side of the sidewalk. No one said anything, but muffled groans accompanied by mean glares were given.

At a very early age, children learn about social norms to help them become proper citizens in society. Examples of some social norms that students learn are: “do not yell in the library,” “do not speak unless spoken to,” “do not talk to strangers,” and “close the door when you use the restroom.” As you grow older, these rules become unspoken because everyone knows how to act like a proper individual in society. The textbook definition of a social norm is something that is a rule of behavior that society accepts. (Bicchieri) Since everyone knows these unsaid rules of society, what would happen when someone decides not to follow these rules? What would people think and react? In this paper, I discuss my violation of the social norm “don’t talk to strangers” and discuss what I learned from this experiment.