Examples Of Expectancy Violations Theory

Expectancy Violations Theory Application:
I have worked at Weis Markets in Frostburg, Maryland for almost two years. I am a cashier and spend most of my time throughout the day around customers. There have been many times where customers did not follow social norms. One of my main pet peeves is whenever I’m in the middle of bagging and someone will reach over the counter. Sometimes customers try to take the bag before I am done packing it. This always makes me uncomfortable and I jolt back so the customer won’t touch me. I am not against being close to people, but this always makes me uncomfortable. I do not like when people I have never met before invade my personal space. Whenever I see these customers again I always try to bag there groceries …show more content…
There is just something eerie to me about someone reaching their hand towards me to grab something. I feel like this is a good example of Expectancy Violation Theory, because this always makes me tense. This theory believes that we all have personal bubbles and our intimate space is zero to 18 inches. I get very anxious when customers invade my intimate space. Whenever these customers invade my intimate space it makes me uneasy, this is because it is a violation to my personal space. The meaning of some violations is easy to spot. As a case in point, no one would agonize over how to interpret a purposeful poke in the eye with a sharp stick (Griffin, 2016, p. 87). I feel as though when the same few customers repeat this action they are aware of the way it makes me feel. I believe they repeatedly do this to make me hurry. To me this action is simply