Social Norm Analysis

In this essay, I will be discussing my observations on two norms violation I have observed and personally committed to observe our societies reaction. In order to evaluate the publics reactions a professor name James Henslin defined a norm as a “expectations of ‘right’ behavior” (49). The way I see a norm was something that our society would never do every day. A norm is not the only violation. Folkways, for example, are “norms that are not strictly enforced” (Henslin 51). Mores are “norms that are strictly enforced because they are thought essential to core values or the wellbeing of the group” (Henslin 51). Just because norms happen everywhere does not mean it is the same violation everywhere. What we may considered something that

In today’s society, norms are expected by everyone. According to the book Essentials of Sociology a Down- To- Earth Approach, Hansen states that norms are expectations of "right” behavior (Hansen, 2014). There are also two forms of norms that may be strictly enforced or not. There is folkways and mores. Folkways are norms that aren’t strictly enforced while mores are strictly enforced for essential thought to care values or the well-being of a group (Hansen, 2014). Along with a norm and the two types, there may also be reactions to it. These reactions may be positive or negative and termed as sanctions. Sanctions are either expressions of an approval given to people for upholding norms or expression of disapproval for violating them (Hansen, 2014). In conducting a norm experiment, the terms were put to a test. The experiment consisted of an observed norm violation and an individual norm violation. The experiments resulted in what I had hypothesized. My hypothesis consisted of sanctions of the norms that were conducted.

My friends looked at me and asked “what are you doing Jaden? That is really grimy.” I continued eating with my mouth open, with the chipotle mayo spilling out my mouth. The lady that was wiping the table next to us looked at me and said, “that is so disgusting you need to stop eating with your mouth open.” I received many remarks from people walking by saying that I have no manners or home training, and that I am a “typical freshman.” I felt uncomfortable and stopped chewing with my mouth open. I received many weird faces from females more than males. I was more comfortable doing this experiment because I already did it in a more populous area in a Dining Hall, and I knew that I would be getting similar reactions in the Subway’s eating area.

In our society, there are many social norms we are expected to abide by. These unwritten rules and standards of behavior often go unnoticed, leaving society to take them for granted. We only become truly aware of the norms of society when they are actually violated. When a violation occurs, those who continue to conform may respond with positive or negative sanctions, such as humor, alarm, irritation, fear, or a wide variety of emotions.

Sociology can be used to explain the social norms and sanctions that are associated with everything that we do. In order to examine social norms, we must use the sociological imagination to make the familiar strange. To do that, we must critically think about the social interactions that take place around us and look at them from different points of view. I observed students interacting with each other and with dining hall employees in Campus Center Dining Hall (CCDH) in order to determine the social norms and sanctions that occur there.

Throughout life, in any society we develop a sense to conform and adjust to our surroundings but why? Our values in our society determines our norms and why we do the things we do. I recently sought out to break these social conformities that violated the values, and norms we hold as a society. Every society is different and, in every society there are different and similar values, norms, sanctions folkways, and mores. Breaking them up and analyzing them we began to understand why these terms and values are so important to us.

We live in a world where we are defined and judged by our every detail. It does not matter if it is our race, religion, gender, sexuality, or economic status, people are always ready to make inaccurate conclusions of who we are. The problem with this is that over time it has made our society fill with hatred, leading to certain groups feeling as if they are superior to others. Minorities have been oppressed and and discriminated against with barely any hope for the future. As a result, it is up to people worldwide to come together and fight for the right of equality.

For our Social Norm Project Caitlin Avery and I decided that we would get onto an elevator and press all of the buttons. We choose this experiment because we both are a little bit shy and felt that this experiment would be stepping out of our comfort zone without making either of us feel too uncomfortable. When we conducted this experiment we made sure to get on the elevator when there was a good crowd of people riding (around 10-15 people) and then the two of us pressed all of the buttons until they were all lit. As we rode the elevator we watched to see what the other passenger’s reactions were. Most people did in fact notice that we had pressed every button and had a puzzled expression on their face, but you could tell that they didn’t think much about it and went back to looking at their phone. I did notice a few people who had

There was forever a peculiarity that I was not blind to, a certain strangeness that grew increasingly and often times embarrassingly pronounced the more I became aware of the rigors of social norms. His whole existence spoke of an inner duality, a cosmic unbalance that resulted in his inherent oddity.

In society, we are accustomed to the normative social influence of rules for us to follow, from how we act in public to what we wear. Whether it was visible to us at the time or not the general public does follow this social norm that governs us for one simplistic reason, we don’t want to be embarrassed for being out of the social norm. The need for social acceptance is presented in our everyday behaviors, actions, and reactions to social normalities. Even with the acceptation of the many people who pretend not to notice a change in a person social norm, when a social norm is broken, the majority will notice it. However I did learn something during the time I was the social norms breaker, “individuals will tend to either fully conform to the

When one goes to college you are expected to socialize and make friends. The media portrays college as a new experience where students should engage in opportunities outside of their comfort zone. Being at UCLA is such an accomplishment because individuals like myself who are from low socio-economic backgrounds are often not expected to get this far. However for many Caucasian folks, going to college is what is expected.

When researching the topic of social norms and norm violations, there is an ongoing list. This is because almost everything we do in society is based on these social norms. If/when these are broken it can be punished as little as someone giving a dirty look, or as large as severe jail time. Social norms come into existence when a society does a specific task over and over until it becomes a normal occurrence. One of the biggest concerns is the war on drugs. Marijuana use is harshly punishments yet causes little to none negative effects. On the other hand, we have tobacco which there are barely any laws on yet it is killing thousands of Americans.

This experiment relates to culture because of the fact that in most cultures, it is considered rude to take food off of others plates and without their permission. In most cultures, it is disrespectful to take someone else’s food without permission but in some cultures it is normal to eat with your hands such as how people in Nepal and in many other cultures do. In America, it is mostly considered weird and unsanitary when an individual eats with their hands and not with a utensil. Socialization also plays a role in this experiment because of self-identity. Self-identity relates to our relationship to the world around us and so when I took food off of peoples plates, the relationship with the individual and I was the feeling of discomfort.

As we know, norms are social expectations that guide our behavior. In this paper, I will discuss norm violations that I’ve observed, and my own personal norm violation that I committed. I will describe what happened, what was done, and the reactions of the people around when these norms begat. I will also discuss the significance of folkways, mores, values, and sanctions to my observations.

Norms are essentially unspoken rules of conduct given by society. These vary and evolve not only through time but also vary from one age group to another and between social classes and social groups. (Becker) It is important to understand how norms dictate our society because breaking any norms can lead to a negative sanctions Sanctions are punishments or rewards one receive when you either abide by a norm or violate it. (Carl, 54) Different types of norms call for different level of sanctions. There are three different types or levels of norms: folkways, mores, and taboos. Folkways are informal norms when violate have lax consequence. An example is picking your nose in class. While it seen as un-hygienic, the sanction for this violation is less severe. The next level of norm is mores. Mores have a much greater value attached to it. Mores distinguish the difference between right and wrong, while folkways draw a line