Privacy and Personal Space

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Recommended: Social norms: the unwritten rules of culture within society

In society, there are specific standards that we hold up throughout our culture. These are the basis off of what we live. These are based on a general consensus of what are expected and accepted as normal actions in society. Some examples of social norms include but are not limited to, chewing with your mouth closed, saying please and thank you, driving on the correct side of the road, etc. The social norm proposed in this experiment was privacy and personal space. Have you ever been to a super market and thought someone was following you around? Or gone to a mall, and thought you saw the same person in every store you went to? The norm that was broken in this experiment was privacy and personal space. Privacy is so important to us. We even have an amendment protecting us from an invasion of privacy. However, this isn’t exactly the same thing. The objective was to follow someone around in a store, and do what they did. Essentially to mimic their actions. When you sit there and think about the different types of social norms, it’s hard to think of one because we do them so often that it’s just a mechanical movement now; we don’t even have to think about it. There are norms out there that are broken ever so often, like when someone chews with their mouth open, or uses their fingers to eat rather than a spoon or fork. I wanted to experiment with something different, something you don’t always see every day. We have all watched CSI or Law and Order and saw that creepy guy following the girl home. We’ve seen it on TV but I wanted to see if the reaction that is on TV is the same as what would happen in real life. Most kids learn the respect of privacy from their parents. For example, when I was a kid and would go to a friend’s h... ... middle of paper ... ...being followed, there is a sense of mistrust. The social norm investigated was privacy and personal space. This was done by a way of following someone in a store and invading their space. This may have caused the people to feel paranoid, and suspicious as they looked back and tried to investigate the situation carefully. However, the situation turned for the worst, when the people became ferocious and began to yell out inappropriate words. The circumstances was corrected in the end by speaking to the people about the experiment. This experiment proved what the standards society holds are for certain reasons. We are taught that when someone is following us, or invading our personal space, it isn’t okay, and that you must be cautious. That is the same reaction that I was given. Social norms allow society to regulate their behaviors and allow us to function properly.

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