For my social experiment I committed the social faux-pas of wearing a ring gag used in BDSM in my high school classes. This experiment was done 2 times in different classes in an attempt to net enough reactions to understand the social dynamics of the faux-pas and also understand my own emotions while committing it. The very premise of this assignment is to feel uncomfortable but I was unsure whether my discomfort came from a place of embarrassment or guilt. When conducting the experiment I also didn’t know if I was ashamed of my actions because I internally condemned them or if the reactions of others caused my negative outlook on the conducting of the experiment.
In my first trial I wore the ball gag in my Study Hall. In this class I do not know many of the students or the teacher very well. It was uncomfortable but comparatively easier to wear a ball gag around people I do not know. When I did work up the nerve to put on the gag it caused an immediate reaction by the people around me. Most started laughing but some became disgusted. The teacher was one of the people who looked appalled. I had the creeping heat of embarrassment run up my neck while the reactions continued. The people in my nearby vicinity asked why I would do such a thing and the one person that did know me
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Despite the classroom setting remaining constant the familiarity I hold with those that witnessed me putting on the gag is what determined my reaction. I assume personally that because I did not know the people within the study hall trial I did not care about their negative emotion of disgust but I did care that it was directed at me. However, when a teacher that has regularly interacted with me showed that he expected such tom-foolery from me it elicited an apologetic response instead of a selfish
And experimental social psychologists...have studied how social forces and the pressures of a given situation can change the way we behave, regardless of our personalities and background” (43). Many of the Candid Camera hoaxes highlight the fact that people are not accustomed to deviance from social norms. Thus, when roles are broken or reversed, the results prove laughter inducing. For instance, when the dentist launches into a sales pitch about gold-plated tooth necklaces and framed x-rays, it’s nearly impossible not to laugh at his flustered patient’s protest that, “The way our walls are set up in our house...this—this just won’t go with it.” But underlying this farcical situation is a human truth—the unfailing desire to adhere to normal social constructs. The dentist should be cleaning my teeth, our brains protest, not selling earrings bedazzled with them! Further on in the episode, during the dentist-turned-barber hoax, we encounter another universal crutch: white lies. “Please, don’t make me feel bad!” the patient pleads when the planted dentist becomes emotionally distraught after having slathered him in shaving cream, “You’re doing a good job, you are!” In this case, viewers can chuckle at the awkward situation while at the same time considering just how often they, too, voice such dishonesties in day-to-day
Situation: The setting is Tom’s classroom and Judge Thatcher is in the room and everyone is trying to “show off” including the Judge and the teacher.
A recent study reveals that when someone we categorize as "other" endures pain, pleasure hormones are released, similar to those released while eating a delicious meal. (Anthes 2010). Before we knew any of the science behind why we ostracize, public shaming was a routine form of punishment. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne‒set in mid-1600’s Boston‒ adulteress Hester Prynne navigates the outskirts of Puritan society. As punishment for her sin, Hester must wear a scarlet letter ‘A’. Likewise, in Monica Lewinsky’s Ted Talk, she discusses the astounding degree of public humiliation she was subjected to. When Lewinsky’s affair with President Bill Clinton leaked online in 1998, she found it was impossible to escape the bullying inflicted
actions are too abominable to convey in words, thus leaving us with a vast array of uncomfortable
... day. The hardest part of the experiment was going against social psychology; it was very uncomfortable going against the social norms. We also found that it was difficult to match all of our schedules to be able to do the experiment all together when the gym was full. Overall the experiment taught us that social norms have molded society to believe that they should restrain their original thoughts and actions when in a public place. Lastly, individuals should not disturb other social norms that occur within the range of accepted actions, especially in the area of clothing.
Haidt (1997) suggested that facial expressions used to reject physically disgusting things are also used to reject certain kinds of socially inappropriate people and behaviors. If the facial reactions are the same, then feelings towards rejecting a physically disgusting thing and a socially inappropriate person or behavior are related. The feeling that is elicited from physically disgusting things as well as socially inappropriate people can be attributed to the same source. Haidt’s research tied together how a disgusting stimulus can be connected and resonate the same cognitive processes that makes someone disgusted to a socially inappropriate person. If the same facial reactions are used then it is possible that a socially inappropriate person’s actions can come off as disgusting.
Breaking those norms made me feel extremely out of place and rude. They made me feel that way because I knew what I was doing wasn't socially right and people would get mad or be rude to me with their reactions. For the most part throughout my experiment, most people reacted the way I thought they would. You could tell that most people felt awkward or uncomfortable while breaking the norm. I faced a couple of difficulties during my assignment when it came to violating the social norms.
There are many different things that influence our behavior from internal influences to social norms. Social norms are explicit rules that govern how we behave in our society. Social norms influence our behavior more than any of us realize, but we all notice when a norm has been broken. Breaking a social norm is not an easy task and often leads us feeling uncomfortable whether we broke the norm ourselves or witnessed someone else breaking it. Sometimes however, you just have to break a norm to see what happens our professor gave us an assignment that is really easy, but also difficult to do because we have to break a norm in from of people. We had two choices, choice number one, facing people while standing in an elevator, and the other choice
While thinking about it one day, this incident with my roommate came to my mind and I thought it would be a good idea to wear my clothes inside out especially because I knew from this experience that it can caught peoples’ attention. Therefore, I decided to break this norm, wearing clothes the right way is a part of our culture. Wearing clothes in general is not something we question and definitely wearing clothes inside out is not an option. What outfit to put on is a commonly asked question for us but, for the most part everybody wears clothes. We do not ask ourselves which side we want to wear our clothes, it becomes second nature for us to wear clothes and to wear them the right way. Therefore, the main reason I decided to break this norm was because we just do things like in this case, wearing clothes on the right side without even thinking about it or questioning why we are doing it. On the other hand, when we accidently do such thing as wearing our clothes inside out, it seems to make a lot of people uncomfortable around
Our society has programmed us in such a way that we create values that pertain to our unique culture and social life. Norm violations sometimes make people feel uncomfortable, ashamed or embarrassed whether they themselves are violating a norm or witnessing someone violate one. The reactions people have during committing a norm or viewing someone do so is what makes it a violation. The feelings and reactions themselves can be a type of sanction whether it is a positive sanction or negative sanction. Negative sanctions are described as, “expressions of approval given to people for upholding norms or expressions of disapproval for violating them” (Henslin, 2015, p.49).
We have all seen it done before, either in real life or in the movies. A situation is funny because of the misinterpretation of someone's actions or the complete conflict of what a situation seems to be and what it really is. People come into contact with sight gags all the time. One might be trying to be sneaky and hide something and then when someone looks, one pretends to be doing something else not to get caught. One could also pantomime using an umbrella as a baseball bat. These are both basic forms of sight gags.
In this day and age we like to say that we thrive on being ourselves and embracing our individuality, while this may be true in my social experiment I found that more often than not we tend to keep to ourselves and follow the social norms of day to day life. Social norms are behaviors and cues most everyone learns throughout their lives. These norms teach us what is and is not acceptable. To fully understand and analyze how norms serve to regulate behavior in our social world, I decided to breach a social norm of my own.
The objective of my experiment was to observe how people reacted to a violation in the social norms of elevator etiquette. Generally in elevators, people fill in starting from the back, face the elevator doors, and rarely make verbal contact with others. Unless the passengers of the elevator know each other, conversation is sparse and often limited to small-talk. As a result of this, my goal in the experiment was to introduce a foreign behavior to the elevator, something that nobody would expect while going about their day. Thus, I entered a situation where a certain set of expectations was in place, such as the informal rule that individuals should stand (rather than sit) in an elevator, and violated those unspoken rules without acting in
The reactions of people when you break a social norm can vary quite drastically. Sometimes the reactions are quite large and other times they are rather subtle. The reactions typically vary based on what norm you break and how strong of a norm it is. In the case of invading people’s personal space, I did not receive and intense reactions. All of the reactions I received were subtle. Not ma...
It is culturally not appropriate to belch loudly while eating, especially, in the presence of guests. Even though I broke the folkway, there was no legal or moral consequence that I faced. I was not subjected to any legal punishment, neither was I punished by the social control ethics that govern the moral conduct of the society. However, after the visitors had left, my parents scolded me for such actions. I was told not to repeat such actions again. It was quite evident that my actions would only bring shame on me and I felt the urge of not repeating such