Social Norms In Research

Bradley Wright (2009) defines a social as, “behavioral expectations that a social group holds for its individuals. Basically, a social norm tells you what you’re supposed to do in any given situation.” The social norm creates a unique culture for each individual social group. However, breaking the social norms, even in the most minute of ways, can cause some backlash and some awkward situations. As proof of this, I performed an experiment where I broke a small social norm, and noted the reactions I got from the people that witnessed it.

In our society we have a number of society norms that we abide by. For example, there is an unwritten rule of how one should behave in an elevator. For example, 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, humor, fear, irritation, or an array of other emotions. When you think of a norm, you are probably thinking about being normal. But in psychology terms, norm means, a standard or representative value for a group. The norm that is more common to people is a social norm. Meaning expectations about what behavior, thoughts, or feelings are appropriate within a given group within a given context.

My mother has always told me that certain things should not be done in public. Social norms are opinions and beliefs that are shared amongst a group. Throughout our lives our parents tell us things that aren’t socially acceptable, and that there are consequences for those actions. Those that don’t act in ways that are socially acceptable are isolated from society. Norms help to guide the general public by reinforcing it with a punishment in waiting.

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

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

“Social norms are rules and standards that are understood by members of a group, and that guide and/or constrain human behavior without the force of laws” (Steg, 2013, p. 154). Social norms have two areas or types they fall into. Injunctive norms are considered behavior that is approved or disapproved and descriptive norms are described as behavior shown by the members of a group. Individuals follow social norms for the rewards involved and the individual wants to avoid rejection and ridicule from societal members. “Social norms can exert a powerful influence on pro-environmental behavior through normative and informational influence” (Steg, 2013, p. 162). Behavior is influenced through normative and informational influences, also moderator variables that may decrease or increase the strength of the influence. Moderator variables contain the size of the group in question, the salience of the norm, if the group is considered an in-group, and the individual personal norms. “A wide variety of research shows that the behavior of others in the social environment shape individuals’ interpretations of, and responses to, the situation, especially in novel, ambiguous, or uncertain

In society, social norms are conducted to define an appropriate behavior of how a person should be, specifying what is considered as "right" or "wrong." When a specific person does not follow the norms, they are seen as different, and is regarded as an outsider. According to Orson Scott Card, an outsider is a person who does not belong in a particular social group. He states all human beings are outsiders, because nobody ever feels like they are accepted by others.

In this exercise, you are going to examine some of the norms that affect your topic. Often, there are unstated or implicit norms that shape our perceptions and behaviors. Especially when we are trying to create change, our actions may be perceived as deviant and elicit a strong social reaction from others. In general, how much do you think self-presentation and social norms affect your topic? Are people completely honest about the topic or do they maintain

In this research that I have conducted focused on breaking a social norm, the social norm I planned to violate was singing out loud on a bus. Violating this social norm acts a form of social influence because the attitudes and behaviors that will be displayed on the bus can spark certain reactions from others. People that display certain social roles we expect people to act out those expectations for those roles (Kassin, 2014). In addition, as part of my social norm it can be considered to be different depending on the culture or group as well. Furthermore, people behave according to their settings and high expectations that people will act that way. While riding on a bus people are expected to sit quietly until their approaching stop arrives. Therefore, I singing out loud will act as form of social influence because the people on the bus would have expected me to just sit quietly like everyone else.

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.

“Social influence is the process by which the actions of an individual or group affect the behavior of others” (Feldman 495). These influences are strongly experienced by members in the group. Every group is unique and is mostly guided by a particular norm and behavior. An individual in a group passively or actively allows himself to be influenced by the group just to have a sense of belongingness. In the bid to prevent being excluded or rejected from a group, some individuals overtly adhere to the norms of the group. “Thus, people conform to meet the expectations of the group” (Feldman 495).

Normative influence primarily occurs in situations where an individual, when amidst others in a crowd, tend to go along with them primarily in order to be liked and accepted by them as part of their fraternity. Research has identified that normative inference normally occurs as an inborn human nature as human beings tends to associate themselves with others in order to maintain a good social contact and relationship with them. Ideally, normative influence is normally furthered by the need for an individual to increase their chances of surviving especially during adverse conditions. This entails that people may at times seem to agree with others just in order for them to appease themselves to them and avoid potential conflict of standing alone and standing out. In some situations normative influence may occur where individuals associate with complete strangers. In such cases, due to mutual fear for each other, an individual may naturally try to agree with the rest in order to avoid appearing as contradictory or controversial.

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

Although much of the previous literature has focused on perceptions of norms (i.e., individual-level norms), it is important to further examine collective norms (i.e., setting-level norms). Setting-level norms are collective and emerge through shared communication among members of a setting, unlike personal norms that exist at the individual level and setting-level norms represent perceptions of collective norms (Lapinski & Rimal, 2005). This approach to studying social settings is consistent with