a. "The rules of behavior that are considered acceptable in a group or society. People who do not follow these norms may be shunned or suffer some kind of consequence. Norms change according to the environment or situation and may change or be modified over time.” (Your Dictionary, 2016)
b. Examples:
i. Not making eye contact during conversation – Cultural norm ii. Invading someone’s personal space – Social norm
2. What social / cultural norm did you select for your breeching experiment? Why and how is this behavior a social norm? Why did you select this norm to violate?
a. The norm I chose to breech is chewing with my mouth open and talking with my mouth full. I completed my experiment in a mostly middle …show more content…
Sharing the sights and sounds of the food in your mouth with those who are sitting near you is offensive, unsanitary and is simply bad manners.
c. I selected to break this norm because I felt it would get the most response, by multiple people, with a single attempt. Through observation I would be able to tell who was bothered, annoyed or completely disgusted by my actions. I also chose to break this norm because I felt there was a low risk of the outcome resulting in a physical altercation or yelling match.
3. Please explain your breeching experiment:
a. What did you do to violate a social norm?
i. As luck would have it this experiment came at a time that my friends and I usually get together for dinner before the Holidays overwhelm us. I had a brief conversation with my group of friends prior to arriving at the restaurant. I explained to them that I had a class assignment to conduct a social or cultural norm experiment, and I was going to complete it that evening. However, I did not give them the details of the experiment. I was as interested in the response of my friends as I was in the response of the other people who would be seated around us. Our group is diverse, sharing …show more content…
When my norm violation occurred there was a general response of disgust. Everyone who was within hearing, and viewing distance responded differently. I received hard stares; very similar to the one my Mom would give me as a child. I received facial expression alone, and facial expression with minimal, quiet verbal response to loud harsh responses. The most direct, and out loud responses came from an African American male, a Caucasian male and a Caucasian female. The more subtle responses and facial expression were from the entire group, which also included an Asian American female, an African American female and a Mexican American female. The people seated next to us included an African American couple, which appeared to be in their early to mid fifties, and two Caucasian men. One of the men appeared to be late 30s to early 40s and the other was early to mid 40s. It was one of the two younger gentlemen at the table next to us that responded verbally to my behavior. Everyone in his or her party quietly talked amongst him or herself, stared, and made facial expression in disgust toward my behavior. The two most specific examples below are the responses that stood out most to me. They are also the responses that made me feel the most uncomfortable during the