Deviating Social Norms

Decent Essays
Deviating from Social Norms During our last class meeting, I participated in a group project that actually helped explain what deviating from social norms was. We rang cowbells, yelled, and cheered on campus as if we were at a football game. From this we can tell that obviously, this activity is different from the usual walk to class and quietness that is found on a college campus. For me I enjoyed the activity. I am a very different person and doing random things that violate social norms is usually what I do. I’ve never rang a bell for no reason, but it did not phase me allowing me to feel comfortable with the activity. The reactions throughout the activity varied from person to person. Some people gave strange looks that one could tell

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    A person can be deviant by their behavior, beliefs, or condition that violates significant social norms in the society or group in which it occurs. Most times a person doesn’t have to be actively deviant to be labelled as deviant. Deviant behaviors can vary from criminal to non-criminal acts. A deviant behavior criminal act can consist of robbing banks or committing a murder, whereas, a non-criminal act can consist picking you’re nose in public or enjoying watching others in pain. There are three types of norms that can be violated in degree of seriousness, ranging from mild transgressions of folks, to more serious infringement of mores, to quite serious violation of the law, which violates the criminal law that society labels as taboos.…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Breaking Social Norms In today’s world we are given a list of social norms we feel compelled to follow as a society. Social norms are the rules of behavior that are considered acceptable in a group or society (YourDictionary). Norms typically change over time due to several different factors and reasons throughout generations. Over the past two days I have spent my time breaking the norm of giving personal space by sitting extremely close to strangers and documenting the people’s reactions while doing so.…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Norms are unwritten rules that everyone tries to live by. Following "Social norms" is essential to the stability of a country. Without a general understanding of the rules and expectations of society, it could lead to chaos, whether discussing traffic issues, criminal issues or everyday life issues. One social norm that many people live by is giving people personal space. Everyone values their personal space, it is a necessity for most people.…

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I broke the social norm Thursday evening around seven-thirty at the Olive Garden in Hialeah, Fl. The restaurant was busy at the time of arrival. The majority of the customers looked to have a Latin background, while the rest were black or white. Everyone seems to be middles class civilians. The atmosphere of the restaurant was welcoming, loud, energetic, and friendly.…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Norm Violation In Society

    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages

    We constantly here “Be your own person” , “March to the beat of your own drum”, and “Be a leader and not a follower” but society as a whole is constantly judge the people around us and we automatically pick out the what we perceive as not normal. This constant judging influences our behavior since we are lead to behave in certain ways based on the situations just to fit the norms. These norms that are not strictly enforced are referred to as folkways. sees it as the “Right thing to do simply because the gesture of standing shows that we respect the people fighting for our nation and love the country were as sitting shows we don 't really care.…

    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Breaking a Social Norms Analysis In society we have these strict expectations that influence our behaviors. Such expectations can change depending on how you were raised, but society plays an important role in it as well. Each one of us has a part in these social roles, and we can change, social roles and our own behaviors in order to fit in. Social norms are rules which are laid out for us and are guidelines for our behavior that we choose.…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When it comes to normative social influence, it is the influence of other people that leads us to conform (so we can be accepted). And as we know, social norms are powerful. As people continued to step onto that elevator, look at me, and then ignore me or share a ‘look’ with their companion, the violation of a social norm I was committing became even more salient. Just like we when accidentally say ‘you too’ when our server says to enjoy the food, or when our phone rings very loudly in public and everyone turns to stare in disdain. My heart was beating quickly and I was probably staring a hole in the wall for the entire duration.…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I wasn’t sure how people would respond or if I would get in trouble or have someone notify security because my behavior would be so out of the norm. Not only was this experiment degrading and eye-opening, but I learned that there are many social norms that aren’t even formally stated, they are simply unwritten rules that society naturally abides…

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Breaking Social Norm

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Breaking a social norm might seem easy, yet when it’s time to actually break it it’s nerve wracking. On a Wednesday afternoon around 1:30, Jerry and I lunched at Chili’s located in Miami Gardens. Approximately, there were about 12-15 observers not including the waiters. Because the bar area was the most crowded area in the restaurant, I decided to lunch there. Majority of the population were African-American male and female, yet there were a couple of white observers.…

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Breaking A Social Norm

    • 181 Words
    • 1 Pages

    How people react towards someone who breaks an everyday society’s idea of a social norm can vary in many different ways all depending on the situation, the people surrounding the incident and who is breaking the norm. I, wearing pajamas in public setting such as the mall, my mother office, in my neighborhood and general popular places around town caused many to quite surprising reactions from my peers, family, strangers and friends. Sometimes people’s reactions are quite subtle and they tend not to show any interest in a change of action at all. However, at other times a person reaction to an alteration in the social norm can be quite large and exaggerated. Walking in public settings in a town that I grew up in (e.g. shopping centre, squares,…

    • 181 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Breaking A Social Norm

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages

    This is seen as breaking a social norm because when people see someone talking to themselves they view them as insane or unstable. When I talked to myself I was in group of friends standing at the red line waiting for train heading to 95th/Dan…

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    I have undertaken the task of breaking a social norm within the my house. As stated in the book, “Informal norms-unwritten standards of behavior understood by people who share a common identity” (Kendall, 76). I wanted to see my family’s reaction when I styled half of my hair and didn’t do the other side. I received negative sanctions because the reactions of my family reacting to my different hair styles. Normally on a regular day, people either take the time to style their hair or not to style their hair.…

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Breaking A Social Norm

    • 1198 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Social Norms... What are they? What are some examples of them? What purpose do they serve? Which one can I break, while attracting the least amount of attention to myself?…

    • 1198 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The feeling of having all eyes on you seems quite unnoticeable and the people who violated these norms, and myself, had to know we were doing something “wrong” or not “normal”. The first norm violation I witnessed was in a church setting. About ten minutes after I arrived…

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    As I was violating this social norm, I felt strange and out of place. I had a lot of awkward encounters that day and i think it was because i normally don't stop and start talking to strangers or greet them by using hand gestures. Normally if someone smiles or says hi, i smile back or say or hi and then we both go our separate ways. With this experiment, I would have to stop and greet them in an unusual and personal way.…

    • 217 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays