Breaking Social Norm

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Whether we realize it or not, it happens. Everyone in today’s society follows these unwritten rules and doesn’t even blink an eye, but what would happen if someone decided they wouldn’t follow these social norms? I found out by a simple breaching experiment that having set social norms makes things difficult and intolerable when it comes down to changes such as the ones I experimented with. My breaching experiment involved breaking three different types of social norms.
The first social norm that was broken, was shouting my answer and then raising my hand after I was finished answering. I decided this social norm would get the best results by being done at Liberty High School. With that being said, breaking this social norm occurred at Liberty …show more content…

The time to do my experiment approached quickly, and since they were my closest friends, I knew they wouldn’t judge me, I wasn’t really nervous at all. We were all together waiting for coach, getting ready and putting our shoes on, when my best friend, turned to me and asked something about the practice schedule and as I answered, shouting my reply,everyone on my team looked up immediately, and most said some kind of smart remark, such as “why are you screaming” or “you’re loud for no reason.” My best friend continued the conversation, so, holding back my laughter, I continued screaming. What else continued? The smart remarks and we also gained some laughter, finally my best friends stop the conversation, but as practice went on I kept my outdoor voice on and after the 4th time or so, the girls finally stopped commenting and just let it …show more content…

The idea is that, if everyone keeps their voice down, no one should have to scream. To conclude my breaching experiment, I broke a social norm by saying hello to every single person I saw for a whole day. The social control of this norm was to force the person I was welcoming to feel uncomfortable. Even though I was polite, this social norm acts as a mechanism for social control so that everyone is not uncomfortable or confused. This says a lot about the world: a stranger being polite is makes someone uncomfortable. My hypothesis was that most will just give a awkward hello and walk at a quicker pace to get away from me.
To violate this norm, I literally woke up in the morning and as soon as I stepped outside of my house, I began to say “hello” or “hi” to everyone I saw walking in my direction. I first started while walking to my car, then when I got to school, next when I went to Northampton Community College, and lastly walking back into my huge from my car. I did violate this norm a lot more than ten times, for the simple fact that it interested me to see the reactions I got. To my surprise, a lot more people than I thought reply just as happy and welcoming as I did. Don’t get me wrong though, most did what I said and just waved quickly or almost whispered hi back. Some even completely ignored me, as if I didn’t say

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