For the project, Arlette and I decided to go to North Shore Medical Center on Friday September 30th 2016 at 5:00 pm. The elevators in the hospital setting were very calm and quiet, but visitors and health professionals were going up and down nonstop. While breaking the norm, the number of observers were about one to five each ride and the specific age group were around 45 years old and most of them were Hispanics or African-Americans.
My behavior while breaking this norm actually shocked me because I am not a shy person but during this project facing the victims in the elevator made me very uncomfortable. The idea of facing towards the people in the elevator was very intimidating for me because I do not like to make eye contact with people …show more content…
I actually thought that I would not get any reactions, but thankfully I did because that made it easier for me to interact with the victims. The people who witnessed the norms were mostly middle aged Hispanics and African Americans women. I realized that men behave differently from women. Since, Arlette and I almost got reported because one of the male health care professionals noticed that Arlette was taking a picture of me while I was in the elevator breaking the norm. Therefore, we immediately explained to him that it is simply a sociological experiment. He explained to us that he did not want to be involved in our “project” because that could lead to him getting fired. I was surprised to see the differences in how others reacted in the elevator alone or in groups. For instance, when a nurse was alone in the elevator, I smiled at her and she gave me an odd look, but I noticed when it was more than one person in the elevator they were actually friendly and …show more content…
By purposely following the elevator norm, I actually thought that someone else would face towards the people as well but no one did. It is because in our society certain “rules” are already provided on ways to “properly” act during different situations. Therefore, I received weird looks so now I realized how social norms play an important role in our society. After the experiment, I learned how it is so hard for some of us to accept when others are behaving differently than we are. Some norms are easier to violate than others because some can lead to someone breaking the law and getting arrested. For instance, taboo is a strong negative norm and violating it could sometimes lead to breaking the law. Murder is not acceptable in most areas unless in war or self-defense so it is considered as a taboo. Therefore, since it is not considered normal in our society so, breaking this norm is extremely hard to violate because it could lead to life sentence in prison. Although, breaking a folkway could lead to unwanted attention, but it is not as difficult to violate. All social norms are accompanied by social sanctions which could be negative or positive. When our behaviors satisfy the requirements of society rules, we are usually rewarded with a positive sanction; failure to meet such expectations leads to punishment known as negative sanction. Not all norms carry
My behavior while breaking this norm actually shocked me because I am not a shy person but during this project facing the victims in the elevator made me very uncomfortable. The idea of facing towards the people in the elevator was very intimidating for me because I do not like to make eye contact with people …show more content…
I actually thought that I would not get any reactions, but thankfully I did because that made it easier for me to interact with the victims. The people who witnessed the norms were mostly middle aged Hispanics and African Americans women. I realized that men behave differently from women. Since, Arlette and I almost got reported because one of the male health care professionals noticed that Arlette was taking a picture of me while I was in the elevator breaking the norm. Therefore, we immediately explained to him that it is simply a sociological experiment. He explained to us that he did not want to be involved in our “project” because that could lead to him getting fired. I was surprised to see the differences in how others reacted in the elevator alone or in groups. For instance, when a nurse was alone in the elevator, I smiled at her and she gave me an odd look, but I noticed when it was more than one person in the elevator they were actually friendly and …show more content…
By purposely following the elevator norm, I actually thought that someone else would face towards the people as well but no one did. It is because in our society certain “rules” are already provided on ways to “properly” act during different situations. Therefore, I received weird looks so now I realized how social norms play an important role in our society. After the experiment, I learned how it is so hard for some of us to accept when others are behaving differently than we are. Some norms are easier to violate than others because some can lead to someone breaking the law and getting arrested. For instance, taboo is a strong negative norm and violating it could sometimes lead to breaking the law. Murder is not acceptable in most areas unless in war or self-defense so it is considered as a taboo. Therefore, since it is not considered normal in our society so, breaking this norm is extremely hard to violate because it could lead to life sentence in prison. Although, breaking a folkway could lead to unwanted attention, but it is not as difficult to violate. All social norms are accompanied by social sanctions which could be negative or positive. When our behaviors satisfy the requirements of society rules, we are usually rewarded with a positive sanction; failure to meet such expectations leads to punishment known as negative sanction. Not all norms carry