Breaking Social Norms
Social norms are the unwritten “rules” of society. A norm is defined by David Myers as “an understood rule for accepted and expected behavior” (Myers, Psychology 8th edition, p. 120). Norms are everywhere, they dictate everything from how we behave on the bus, how we interact with our friends and coworkers, to how we order our coffee. This assignment has several steps: The first will be observation of behavior, second, you will engage in a norm-breaking behavior yourself, and third, you’ll write an essay addressing the questions below. Your essay will reflect both your observations and your experiences and examine the role of conformity in relation to other concepts we have discussed in class.
Purpose: Through this assignment you will:
o Become more aware of some of the social norms you live by
o Experience breaking one of those norms, and
o Have a deeper understanding of the meaning of conformity as well as recognize some positive and negative aspects of conformity
What you will do:
1. First, I want you to spend one entire day just paying attention to your behavior and the behavior of others (take notes!). Try to examine the behavior in terms of social norms. What unwritten rules do you obey? Due_____
2. Then, on another day, you will engage in at least one behavior that clearly breaks a social norm. For example, you could walk through the grocery store backward, put on far too much blush and bright red lipstick, pretend you are pregnant and ask strangers for a “light” (don’t actually smoke), invade personal space by proximity or staring directly and intensely into someone’s eyes while they are talking to you. Whatever you choose, you must first have it approved by me. Due_____ If you do not go through the approval process I will not accept your project for a grade. Your behavior must not be harmful to yourself or anyone else, and must not be illegal. Your breaking of the social norm must be witnessed by other people. You may work with other people, (no more than 3 in a group unless the norm breaking itself calls for a large group) but everyone must write their own essay. Due______
What you will turn it:
Your paper should be typed in an essay format, with an introductory paragraph and a conclusion. Guidelines 2-4 pages, 12 pt font 1.5 or double-spaced, including your thoughts about the following, not necessarily in this order…again, don’t just list a bunch of answers to the questions…incorporate your answers into an essay.
1. Your day of observation: describe 3-5 norms that you noticed you engage in or you saw others engage in. Have you noticed these norms before?
2. Nonconformity: What social norm did you break and what did you do (note: this does not have to be related to the norms you observed in #1) Did you do this alone or with others. (and if with others, was there a reason for this choice-e.g. fear of doing this alone)?
3. Reaction of others: What did people around you do or say when they saw this behavior? You may consider interviewing people, if appropriate, after you engage in the behavior to find out more about this.
4. Your reaction: How did you feel engaging in the behavior? Was it something that was easy or difficult for you to do, and why? Make sure to examine your emotional response s to the experience, and ask yourself what made you feel that way. If you did the behavior with someone else, do you think that might have changed your experience rather than doing it alone? If you did the behavior alone, do you think having an ally (someone else also doing the behavior) would have changed your experience? Why or why not?
5. Your reflection on the idea of conformity: Why do we conform to the social norms around us? What might be some positive aspects of conformity within a culture or society? When might conformity be less constructive?
6. Tie another concept from class or the textbook into your discussion of conformity: to deepen your discussion, connect your ideas to another concept from class that you think is connected to why or when we conform. For example, what are the operant conditioning factors that increase conforming behaviors? Or how do our schemas influence conformity behavior? Ideas for other concepts that are related to conformity: Obedience, Helping, Mental Disorders, Stress, Culture…and many more!
7. Please include a picture or video of your norm breaking experience. You will need to have someone photograph or tape your experience. They do not need to be a member of this class. Be prepared to present your project.
Grading: You will be graded on the thoroughness of your answers to each question above, as well as spelling and grammar.