Breaking Social Norms

Norms are defined as guidelines to society that state what behaviors are appropriate within a culture. Bathroom etiquette, how to behave in a restaurant, and classroom manners are all good examples of norms. So how do we feel when someone breaks the norm in our presence? When norms are broken there is often confusion but mostly uncomfortable looks are shared throughout everyone in the room. In my research, I plan to break the norm regarding public transportation etiquette. To violate this norm I will take a public bus in DeKalb, Illinois from an off campus apartment to an academic building at Northern Illinois University. On this ride I will sing one verse of a children’s song loudly. The purpose of this study is to see if the reactions from others by breaking a social norm will coincide with what I believe their reactions will be. I …show more content…
Breaking a social norm of any sort can be an uncomfortable to anyone who has never or rarely breaks norms. At first I was absolutely terrified and nervous to do something so out of the ordinary. After I started singing I was quite scared and uncomfortable because I do not normally sing in front of random strangers, let alone a bus full. Even though I violated the norm three separate times, each time I felt scared and uncomfortable when I started singing. As people started staring at me and giving me looks I began to feel even more awkward because I was drawing attention to myself in a place where you purposely make yourself invisible. Even when I was being ignored the nerves did not go away. My hypothesis was confirmed; the reactions of the passengers on the public bus were exactly what I thought would happen. People were gawking and confused but overall just ignored me in the end. I have absolutely no idea how they really felt about the situation I put them in, but I will make the assumption that most people thought I was weird and possibly mentally