Greeting Social Norm

The purpose of a breaching experiment is to help seek and examine people’s reactions to violations of commonly accepted social rules or norms. When I began my experiment I felt uneasy to not greet anyone or say goodbye. Greeting people in a Latin culture is a social norm because it is something we have been taught since we were young because it is a sign of respect. Even now that we are older it is an unwritten rule that has taught us how to behave in our own culture. I believe greeting people is a strong formal norm not just in the Latin culture but all over the world because no matter where you go or how many years pass greeting people will always be a sign of honor and respect. In a Latin culture we have the custom of greeting family and

However, when I did not take part of this greeting most of my family members at the wedding thought I was cold and distant. My family is very loving and will always greet you with so much affection that it is shocking if you do not correspond. A few of my friends came up to me and asked me if something was wrong and if I wanted to talk about it. These reactions did not surprise me because I knew this social norm of giving hugs and kisses are a very big deal in my Latin culture. I knew my family would feel hurt and offended by not practicing this social norm whereas if I were to be dealing with people who I barely knew the situation would be different. Furthermore, if I was to try to greet people especially in a white predominant society while walking down the street or in a public place with a kiss on the cheek they would think I was some crazy person crossing boundaries. Since it is not normal in white cultures to express this type of greeting it would be strange if I tried to do that just like it would be strange that I didn’t greet in my Latin culture. Once we become use to something, like greeting, it is very shocking and may catch some people off guard when you no longer practice the social norm. Thus, my experiment show how once society turns something into a norm it is very difficult to get out of that mindset and change