Breaking Social Norms

Norms are certain standards of behavior that are considered important to a social group. These norms are often clear and sometimes unclear to us in parts of society. I have chosen to break an informal norm, which is known as a folkway. A Folkway is a norm without any moral underpinning, a norm that follows day-to-day social behavior. Breaking these norms can result in simple or catastrophic outcomes, depending on the norm expectation broken. Today breaking a norm can often be frowned upon and unaccepted by the majority group. The majority group usually dictates the standard of being accepted. I’ve experienced the good and bad reactions of peers by breaking a typical Thursday and Saturday night norm.
The area I chose to conduct my norm violation

At first, my peers reacted confused asking me if I was okay, or if I was sick. As if not drinking was worse for me, others reacted negatively, getting annoyed that I would not drink or “turn up” with them. They would continually try to get me to drink throughout the night one way or another. At some points of the night they would buy me drinks, telling me I was even obligated to drink them. As the night went on, my friends came to the realization that I was going to remain sober. However, the consequences of me breaking this norm were positive for all my peers. At the end of the night everyone could save five dollars by catching a ride home with me, instead of having to wait on a cab outside of the bar. I chose this norm violation because I knew it would be difficult a difficult task for me. Remaining sober while going to the bars was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done before. It became very challenging when my friends would offer me free drinks, or ask me to play the ring of fire with the gang. My best friend, Cody, even suggested playing but chugging water instead of beer whenever I lost. Although I didn’t chug water, I played around of ring of fire with my peers just to keep them quiet. Even though the night was challenging, I was still able to enjoy a night out in the Square with all my