Breaking A Social Norm Essay

Breaking a Social Norm Essay
Breaking a social norm 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. In society
today us as...show more content...
I wanted to turn around and say something but I just kept my cool and said to myself, "This is only a test Cynthia don't let them get to you." Once
I finished talking to myself I was relieved and ready to go into the movies. While walking into the movies, I received more looks and heard more
whispers coming out of people which really didn't make sense. All they had to do was just except me for who I was and that I was wearing
clothes. After I got tired of the looks and whispers I changed my clothes and walked back in movie theatre. Once again my boyfriend looked at me
strangely and said, " Why did you change"? When I finally broke it down to him that I was doing a project for psychology he started to laugh. His
response towards me was, he was going to love me no matter how I come out the house. I thought that was cute, that let me know that he doesn't
care what people think and that he was always going to be with me no matter how I look. When I broke the norm of how I look, I felt really
insecure about myself and I really did care of what people were going to say about me. But I did learn this people are very judgmental on a person
that they have no clue about. The other norm that I broke was going against authority. The authority that I went against was my mom during
Thanksgiving dinner. When I did this norm, I really felt bad because, me and my mom are so close and I would never had disrespect her the way I
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Breaking Social Norms Essay
Social norms are the rules of behavior that are considered acceptable in a group or society. Typically, the norms are not challenged because people are
afraid of the consequences. When someone breaks a social norm, they risk ridicule, embarrassment, and possibly punishment. Some examples of social
norms include shaking hands when meeting someone, making direct eye contact, and driving on the right side of the road in the United States. For my
assignment, I decided to violate personal space norms and conversational norms. In the Unites States personal space is very highly valued. People
typically do not appreciate someone invading their personal space, unless they have a personal connection with the said person. Someone can feel
anger, discomfort,...show more content...
I found my next victim, also on the yard and started to follow her closely. I caught her near Douglass Hall and followed her across The Yard until
we were near the front of Locke Hall. Initially, she seemed unbothered by my closeness until it registered that my being close to her was intentional.
She then sped up her pace and conveyed through her body language that she was uncomfortable. I stopped following her and failed to tell her that I
loved her, because I also felt uncomfortable. The public was also disengaged for my second

Sociology: Breaking Social Norms "Etiquette is all human social behavior. If you're a hermit on a mountain, you don't have to worry about
etiquette; if somebody comes up the mountain, then you've got a problem..." This quote from American journalist, Judith Martin, illustrates the
concept that the presence of others creates or inspires expectations. Social norms, or specific cultural expectations for how to behave in a given
situation, are practiced throughout various societies and cultures across the planet. People relay on social norms to provide order and
predictability in social situations. Social roles are the part people play as members of a social group. With each social role one plays, the behavior
changes to fit the expectations both you and others have of that role. It is most common for people to conform to the guidelines provided by the
roles we perform. When one does not conform to the social norms, it is considered abnormal behavior. For this assignment, I faced the challenge to
disregard expectations of social roles and norms in society. I wanted to choose a social setting and role that is common to most members of society
throughout the course of the day. In one way or another, be it direct or indirect, most people in American society play the role of a consumer or
customer. I also wanted the business to be a fairly common and causal, but also a place with frequent and busy customers. The social norm I chose to
defy was simple, go through the drive thru and

Breaking A Social Norm
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...show more content...
We're trained as individuals to follow social norms, so breaking them can feel very uncomfortable. It was weird acting out of my comfort zone in
order to accomplish this. I didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea or see me as rude in any way. Most of the people acted how I expected they
would. They didn't know how to react/ they didn't expect it to happen. It was more of a shocked reaction where they didn't know what to say. The
hardest part was getting a picture of the experiment in the act without being seen by the person in question. Especially in a dining hall it's hard to
hide a camera when you also need to be within view to take a picture which is why we tried to accomplish this in the less crowded cafe. This
experiment made me realize how many things I see as "not normal" because society trained me to believe so. We follow trends without even
realizing it. It's made me wonder more about why I do the things I do, and why I think the way I do. Breaking a social norm shows you how
dependent society is on social norms in

Breaking Social Norm Essay
Laws are the written rules that are used to create a functioning society and avoid chaos and anarchy. As a society, we also have unwritten "laws"
that we follow in order to live peacefully among each other. These unwritten "laws" are called social norms. For example, you wouldn't be breaking
any laws by wearing pajamas to work, but you would be breaking a social norm. Different races, cultures, genders, age, and sexual orientations have
different social norms that are expected to abide by. For example, it's a social norm for women to wear a bra at all times when in public. This is a
social norm that feminist have fought and rebelled against since the bra burning movement of the 60s. For my breaching experiment, I decided to
temporarily join...show more content...
I did not like feeling that exposed one bit. It didn't help having people staring at me. I felt like I was on display, I am not used to attracting that
much attention. The reactions I received were the reactions I expected. I expected people to just stare and give me dirty looks. I have noticed
people stare at people who don't fit their description of "normal". It's hard to admit, but I too stare at people with unique physical attributes. I have
never been on the other side of the stareing. I learned just how judgemental our culture is towards people who break social norms. This experiment
definitely change my perspective of how I will look at strangers. I am going to try my best to alienate people based on just how they look, because I
know now how awful that feels. This experiment also made me realize, how taboo American culture has made the woman's body. All I was doing was
not completely covering a completely normal body part, and I received a ton of negative feedback. But, as far as the experiment goes I found my
predictions to be correct, women were the most reactive to me. Which should be shocking, considering the fact that they too have boobs. But, the
unfortunate truth is that women instead of banning together often tear eachother

Breaking A Social Norm Essay
Violating a norm, in society today, can make some people look at you incredibly differently from what is normal. Depending on the norm that is
disrupted, some people make react differently than perhaps someone with different views. I decided to experiment with breaking the norm of
conversational distance. "Social Distance" has separate zones that are a general rule of a conversation based on how well a person knows the people
they are talking to. While defying the norm of social distance, I received two different reactions due to the difference in people I attempted it with.
Disturbing a social norm can either make people uncomfortable or act okay with it, depending on different variables. The norm I violated was talking
to two different...show more content...
I have only talked to this person about two times since being here at college. It was a Tuesday morning, around 7:45 a.m. We were in the elevator,
going from the fourth floor to the first. I was nervous getting on the elevator, knowing I was about to do it. I stood right by this person, since there
were five others, all around the age of nineteen, with us. As I started to ask how their morning was, I leaned in to talk to them. This person actually
pulled their head back away from mine as they started to talk. I noticed their eyes got wider and they were hesitant to answer me back. During our
conversation, I felt embarrassed because I could tell I made them uncomfortable. After we got to the first floor, I walked fast to leave this person. I was
that self–conscious, I wanted to leave immediately. Breaking a social norm with an acquaintance is an awkward situation for both people. 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

Social Norms Essay
Ranjeet Chaudhari SOCIOLOGY–100–03 NORM BREAK From a sociological perspective, social norms are informal understandings that govern the
behavior of members of a society. Norms are social expectations, establishes rules of behavior or standards of conduct. Norms explain why people do
what they do in given situations. Norms are regarded as collective representations of acceptable group conduct as well as individual perceptions of
group conduct. They can be viewed as cultural products, customs, traditions which represent individuals' basic knowledge of what others do and think
that they should do. Norms are usually done for research purpose to see that people think and how they react....show more content...
The Social norm here is that people want to eat their food in peace and they don't want any distractions or problems while eating food because that
food is important to them and they bought is with their own money. First of all, before doing the norm break I want to choose what type of people
should I do norm break. First, I want to try my norm break with White Elder people because I work at the mall and I have had many elder
customers who were all nice to me. And I want to try my first experiment with White elder people and continue few more experiments with other
people of different ages and race. I go to the place where people sit and eat their food, I don't want to sit on the same table as them which might
trigger them and make them mad. I will just sit on the near by table by facing them while they eat their food and stare at them. There could be
different types of possible reactions from different types of people which may vary in their level of understanding, may influence by their
experience if they have been part of social norm breaks before. People could be mad at me, tell me to leave, change their sit, or maybe they could
offer some of their food to me, or people might get confused. People might think why I am staring at them, they might see me as a weirdo, might call
police if they feel unsafe I hope that doesn't happen. If someone would look at me while I am eating my food I might

Breaking Social Norms
Norms– Social norms are forms of behaviours commonly found in all different culture or society, norms are behaviours that are expected to be
'normal'. Norms are social expectations that provide us with very clear guidance on how to behave in day to day life. So what is classed as being
'normal'? You get two types of norms 'informal' and 'formal' norms, informal norms are accepted ways of thinking and behaving but are not written
down anywhere such as waiting in a Que. Formal norms are laws found in society, it's illegal to take goods from a shop without paying. Norms explain
why people do what they do in given situations. Values– Values are a set of general guidelines that underpin social norms. Values are ideas about the
correct behaviours

A social norm is a behavior accepted and expected by society. We learn social norms from feedback, called sanctions, we get from our peers and
elders. A sanction can be positive or negative; if it is positive it is a sort of reward that encourages the behavior and if it is negative it is a sort of
punishment meant to discourage the behavior. For example, when children fart in public they break the social norm and are scolded or negatively
sanctioned by their parents with yelling or are bullied by their peers. However, if the child were to hold a door for someone else they receive a
positive sanction of that person's thanks. The first norm I chose to follow was giving to those less fortunate. Giving is a widely–encouraged behavior
because it...show more content...
These days ripped jeans are highly desirable, so I decided to wear my new ripped jeans out with my friends on Saturday night. Everyone loved
them. They all commented on how well they fit and how I looked "very trendy" in them. All of their comments were positive sanctions encouraging
me to dress according to the ripped jean trend. However, the next morning I went to brunch with my grandmother and I thought my new cool jeans
would be a hit with her also. I was sadly mistaken. As soon as she saw my jeans she started commenting on how she could buy me a whole pair of
jeans and how she would never go out in public in holey clothing because she would be so humiliated. She then insisted that I drive back to my dorm
to change into a more appropriate pair of pants. These comments were all painfully negative sanctions. My grandmother grew up during the great
depression and was always taught that having holes in your pants or any article of clothing was a sign of financial distress. Showing financial distress
then and now, is against the norm in our culture. People are taught to hide pain and suffering to avoid being judged or pitied. However, among young
adults today, distressed clothing shows your style and is often even more expensive than normal clothing. Fashion is an example of how accepted
social norms can often change depending on generation or even

Alex King SOC–10 10/13/12 Breaking Social Norms 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
...show more content...
The gesture was small and confined to a very small space, yet it proved to generate great and powerfully negative reactions. As stated earlier, this
experiment completely proved my hypothesis wrong. Many of the people that rode the elevator with me stared at me as though there were
something wrong with me. Most were uncomfortable and fidgety and kept looking over their shoulder at me as they rode forward, and me,
backwards. More than a few asked if I was alright and even asked my friend, who was acting as if he did not know me, knew what was was wrong.
I even conducted a few controlled experiments where I rode the elevator forward to see if people would react to me then, but not a single person
outside of the experiment even acknowledged my existence. I would have thought that in a place like L.A. County, people would be too busy to
notice others, or people would have been raised to mind their own business and keep to themselves, but apparently abiding my social standards and
making sure that others do as well is a higher priority. I suppose one can use conformity as a reasoning for these results. Society as a whole has
learned to conform to social standards and change their behavior to fit in so they aren't so different from others, so as not to be the odd one out and
when they see others behaving differently than themselves, or as the society that they're in, they're labeled as "weird" or "strange." Behaviorists might
say

Explain Why It Is Important To Break Social Norms
Remember, these people will always like you, to some degree, no matter what. Even if you break social norms or are awkward about it, they'll forgive
you, still give you their information, and hang out with you. So take advantage of this and ask!
Better this, than never asking and never getting a chance to hang out.
It'll always work. You justneed the courage to

Breaking Social Norms
Social Norms dictate what is acceptable in society and in some ways help society to productive and orderly. Norms are a set of protocol that we have
all learned and follow and laws that we are held to because we participate in society. Many times social norms keep the average citizen to themselves
and within their own sphere unless an emergency arrives where or a situation when spontaneous must occur. When individuals within the society break
the social norms and step outside the standards that everyone lives by, the society shuns the behavior and separates it self from the thing that is not
adhering to the social norm. Within our society we frown behaviors such as public drunkenness and vagrancy so when we see homeless people many
assume

What Is The Effect Of Breaking Social Norms
While visiting my boyfriend at Embry–Riddle in Prescott Arizona, I decided to take advantage of the large amount of strangers I was surrounded by.
While he was in class I wandered the small campus in search of individuals to test my communication experiment on. The student population is
composed of about 80% males, so it is fair to say my participants were males between the ages of 18 and 24. Much like before, I did not want to break
any rules which involve too much seriousness since I know I would easily lose character. When engaging in face–to–face conversations, I chose to
manipulate my paralanguage. In one instance I whispered for an entire conversation, in another I spoke almost as loud as I would if I were yelling,
and finally I switched between the two mid conversation. As I whispered I recognized facial features indicating they were focusing very hard on
hearing me and sometimes they would lean closer. Many asked me politely to speak up and would smile or laugh when I would nod my head in
agreement then continue to whisper only slightly louder. One individual got irritated and...show more content...
Once rules are broken, it is extremely difficult to engage in a smooth or productive conversation. It is almost as if people no longer regard someone as
credible or friendly once rules are broken. The communication environment holds great influence over the meaning of a message. For example, it
would be perfectly acceptable for me to whisper if telling a secret or in a library, and on the other hand it would be socially acceptable to yell at a
sporting event or a concert. Likewise, standing close is allowed at places like Disneyland (when in the elevator for Haunted Mansion). The rules
surrounding communication are in place for a reason, all communication is put into perspective through the social norms and then deemed appropriate
or inappropriate based on the context of which the message takes

norms are social expectations that guide people's behavior in society. Society dictates people to act a certain way and breaking this will be
violating a social norm. Some norms may be more serious than others, depending on how society views it. It is known to never talk back and forth
with parents or elderly people or even make discourteous gestures when talking. Society labels this as being disrespectful. I have never indulged in
such disrespectful act.The appropriate behavior l be to let your parents speak and after they are done, you can then respond. Although it is more
stressed in some cultures than other cultures. For example, where I come from, Gambia, when our parents are talking or an elderly person, we bend
our heads down to show respect. But after coming to the United States, it became less stressed. It may not be that big of a deal in some cultures or
countries, but it may be taken into high consideration in some other cultures....show more content...
It was on a Tuesday and we were in the car alone as he was the one driving. He asked me about school and before he had finished talking, I rolled my
eyes and responded: "it's none of your business". I continued without looking at him "you don't always have to ask me about my day, you're just
my dad". It was terrifying, but I did it. It was the most horrifying thing I have ever done, in fact, I almost chickened out. I did the same thing to my
mom an hour later. I was only able to do this because my mom had no idea of what had happened, my dad had just dropped me off and went to
work. I was kind of nervous and scared about doing it again because of how my dad had reacted. She said hi to me and chatted for a while. She told
me to go freshen and come help her clean. I Interrupted and told her no and as she was about to speak again, I rolled my eyes and went upstairs. She
was shook and didn't react until a minute

Breaking A Social Norm
In every aspect of society, there are social norms. Without norms, there would become chaos because we need norms that define behaviors as proper
and others as improper. Whether it be dressing a certain way at your job or treating a fellow employee or classmate a special way. Last weekend I
broke a norm. It was an awkward experiment, but rather interesting. Here's what happened.
My partner Jennifer and I arrived to Little Havana Restaurant at around 12:30 pm. There were around 18 observers there, all ranging from probably
9–50 years old. It wasn't too quiet but it wasn't too loud either. Most people inside were Cubans, but there were a couple of Americans too. Everyone
minding their own business, caught up in their conversations, typical restaurant behaviors. I acted normal as everyone acts in a restaurant. We were
seated at our table. The waiter came, took our drink order, returned with our drinks, took our food order...show more content...
They are things that we all do naturally, whether its face the door in an elevator, eat with a fork and knife, giving a baby boy trucks and a baby girl
Barbie dolls, or even not talking to your neighbor in the bathroom. It's very difficult to break a norm because its things we do ever since we are
born, and we don't want to ruin the social nature that we live in or ruin our group identity. Some norms are easy to break but others are more
difficult. In some cases, breaking a norm can seem disrespectful or offensive to some people, also called Mores, while others will just make people
laugh and aren't taken to seriously, also known as Folkways. Social control, or in other words a way for society to ensure conformity with the use of
rewards and punishments, play a large role in whether or not we do something because we are afraid of having to deal with the consequences.
Depending on how strict the norm, will depend on the severity of social sanction. It could be a punishment while it could be a

In sociology, norms are social expectations that guide behavior. Norms explain why people do what they do in certain situations. For example, in
the United States, it is a norm that people shake hands when they are introduced. This expectation is why a job candidate extends a hand toward the
interviewer when they meet instead of giving the interviewer a hug. A few norms are enforced by legal penalties. For example, walking nude in
public is often a legal offense that could result in arrest. My goal in this paper is to explain to you what social norm I broke and the reactions of others.
My social norm that I broke consisted of me going into the bathroom stall and talking to the person next to me. This social norm was particularly easily

Breaking social norms is something I shy away from. I refrain from breaking social norms because I know what it can do to a person's reputation,
but also because I was taught not to. Those are the reasons this assignment was particularly challenging for me, so I kept it small and just chose to
sit next to people. To get various reactions I sat next to my family, friends, and finally strangers. Each group reacted differently to me sitting next to
them and only the strangers reacted the way I thought they would. I started by first sitting next to family members as they were the easiest to reach.
First, I sat next to my mother on the couch and I was immediately met with "why are you sitting so close?" She said, "There a plenty of seats in the
...show more content...
My friends usually don't tend to mind because we are all close and we don't find that it is such a big deal to sit next to one another. I could only
infer what was going through many of the stranger's heads as I sat next to them. After I was done I realized that when I sat next to someone that I
entered their intimate space. This was caused by the fact that the seats next to them where not spaced out so I had no choice. When I am not
breaking social norms I tend to behave the same way around family. Over my friend's house we tend to sit next to one another to play video games
so this is probably why they didn't view it as out of character like my family. Many of the strangers I sat next to probably thought I was in their
personal space and found it odd that I chose to sit next to them. Other than my friends, I prefer it when others choose not sit next to me if it is
avoidable. I mentioned before that my friends gave me a reason why they didn't find it odd that I sat next to them. The reason they gave was
something along the lines of we invade each other's space all the time so we have all gotten used to it. So, the reason my friends didn't react was
because this was not out of the ordinary for

Social norms are actions and behaviors that are recognized as acceptable amongst society. Personally, I abide to most social norms because it
provides me sense of comfort and belonging. To break a social norm would probably make anyone feel like an outsider and the need to feel accepted
is what most likely drives us to conform to social norms. In order to test how social norms affect myself and other around me, I decided to completely
step outside of my comfort zone and break an imperative hygienic social norm; brushing ones teeth.
While brushing your teeth is crucial to one's hygiene, it's also a courtesy to others and is considered to be a social norm for many reasons. Humans,
specifically Americans, tend to value oral health to the highest degree because our communication between one and other revolves around the mouth.
Not brushing your teeth can result in bad breath, tooth decay and gum disease. While it may seem like these complications only affect those who
choose not to brush their teeth, it doesn't. The majority of Americans find it rude, let alone disgusting, when they are talking to someone who has
neglected to clean their teeth and can relate to holding their breath in attempt to not to smell someone's rancid breath. Many people also find it
uncomfortable when looking at someone's rotten, food filled teeth in conversation. All in all, neglecting to brush ones teeth can result in a multitude of
undesirable issues that not only affects themselves, but everyone

Social Norms can be defined as expectations, or rules of behavior, that develop out of values or morals. Someone's values can be defined as their
idea of what is desirable in life. People develop expectations of what is the right way to reflect these values. When norms are violated people are
usually shocked and form sanctions from the norm that is being broken, either positively or negatively. For this paper I was required to violate a
norm. The norm I decided to violate had to do with personal space.
I decided to go walk around Bakersfield College and sit next to people who were sitting alone and ask them how there day was going and try to start a
conversation. This usually does not happen and when it does it can be classified as breaking...show more content...
My norm violation would not be close to committing a more because this would be a more extreme norm violation. People who violate society's
most important rules are violating the most important mores. Violating one person's folkways can be violating another person's mores. A taboo refers
to breaking a norm so strong that it brings extreme sanctions if violated. When someone violates a taboo the person is usually judged to the point
where they are unfit to live in the same society as others. The norm violation that I committed was not as extreme and would not be defined as taboo
or as serious as breaking a social

Breaking A Social Norm Essay

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Breaking A Social Norm Essay