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Conformity and non conformity
Conformity and non conformity
Consequences of deviance in society
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The “Doing Nothing” experiment exposed me to a new way of seeing things and also a new level of awkwardness. Standing still in a public place for ten minutes, with people walking past you and starring you down like you are some crazy person is quite the experience. You begin to understand that people take great notice of anything that seems out of the ordinary to them. This is because our society has developed and enacted so many societal norms in today’s day and age. Societal norms are ultimately the sociological expectations for our society. So, when people see somebody standing in the middle of a crowded public place doing nothing, they are going to take notice. I realized that while standing in the middle of the mall where many people
In society, it's difficult to go against the norm. Individuals are compelled to act a specific way, or look a specific way in order to be accepted. For instance, teenagers may encounter pressure from their peers to partake in specific exercises that may not be moral, since they feel the need to fit in. This weight of conformity isn't just present in reality; it can be found in literature as well. The story "St. Lucy’s Home For Girls Raised by Wolves" by Karen Russell depicts that in order to conform to society, individuals abandon their selflessness and compassion and become selfish and apathetic.
The daunting task of violating a social norm, something that I could be ostracized and ridiculed for, I still chose to do. Social norms are the rules of behavior that are considered acceptable in a group or society. Doing weird things in public while surrounded by strangers is a recipe for disaster, especially for somebody like myself. I am awkward and have plenty of trouble talking to new people. Most of us are told not to talk to strangers when we are younger because there are all sorts of crazy people out there. There could not be a better way to break out of my shell and violate a social norm than to sit down and talk to total strangers while they eat.
The first experiment involved shaking hands with strangers while introducing myself to them and standing too close to them while asking a question. And the second social experiment was to stare at random strangers for an unusually longer period of time.
At the expense of the tester’s life and the teacher’s conscience, mankind’s long-term benefits from knowledge gained from the experiment outweighs immediate negative
Several years ago I viewed the video of Jane Elliot’s experiment with her third graders and I was
Imagine how you would feel if you were always being treated as though you were not human, or if people acted as though they created you. Well this is how you would feel if you were the subject of a science experiment. Science experiments should not be performed on humans or animals because of the unknown outcome. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes shows a destructive nature of man through stereotypes, absence of family, and the various IQ levels needed to mature.
Lessons can be learned through experiments but at what cost? Steven Pinker, a experimental psychologist, once said, “If you give people literacy, bad ideas can be attacked and experiments tried, and lessons will accumulate.” This quote by Pinker gives a great idea what could happen when people get literate and conduct experiments that they will do to learn more. The Nazi’s wanted to learn more about the human body. During the Holocaust, the experiments that they performed were the most wicked and dehumanising crimes in history.
...experiment, felt that the experiment made such a deep impression on him that he became convinced that “social sciences and psychology, are much more important in today’s world.'; One can only imagine the inner conflicts that were running through his head. After the experiment, he described the mood, “I did want to stop at that time. I turned around and looked at [the experimenter]. I guess it’s a matter of…authority.';
The most fascinating aspect of this experience, for me, was the exposure to new cultures. This includes the twist culture puts on science. I found huge difference in the viewpoints of many cultures towards science related issues surprising. For instance many cultures had vastly different ways of looking at the forthcoming issues surrounding the implications of genetic engineering. The Asian and American cultures were very different in many work habit areas as well. There was an interesting group dynamic as culturally mixed groups strove to collectively complete group projects. The cultural sharing in science went beyond how questions were answered to how they were asked to which questions were most important and even which questions were addressed. while observing the cultural spin on science and work habits was an interesting pastime, the true wonder was cultural sharing on a greater scale.
It is 9:00 PM on a Sunday night. Televisions all across America tune into MTV. Millions of viewers will now spend the next thirty minutes watching a television program titled 'Jackass'. While watching this program, the viewers will observe everything from people eating hard boiled eggs in an attempt to purposely vomit, to a man testing out various self defense devices on himself. Next week viewers will tune into the same program to see the same kinds of stunts performed. The reason that America watches these kinds of programs, and the participants in them perform these stunts, are because 'norms' are being broken. A norm is something that is generally accepted by a society as the right thing to do, or the way things are supposed to be. For example, a norm would be to enter an elevator and stand facing the front for the duration of the trip. Breaking that norm would be to enter the elevator and face the back for the duration of the trip. It is not what is expected. Different norms exist in different societies, and when these norms are broken within these societies people pay attention, because it is not an occurrence observed on a regular basis.
While trying to break the movie theater norm, it was difficult for me to pick movies with a different variety of people and movies that were a little older so less people would be attending them. I also had a little trouble when it came to answering the phone and waiting for the other person to talk first. The problem with this one was that I had to wait for people to actually call me, which doesn't happen that often in this day and age anymore. To conclude, these social norms forced people to be in uncomfortable situations and make a decision as to how they would react to it.
Willer, R., Kuwabara, K., & Macy, M. W. (2009). The false enforcement of unpopular norms. American Journal of Sociology, 115(2), 451-490. doi: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/journals/journal/ajs.html
were a rarity, and everyday life was full of work from sunrise to sunset. Yet despite all the work, her family was in utter poverty. Nevertheless Rukmani was always optimistic, and accepted her life the way it was. Kenny, on the other hand, never understood why they accept their poverty and always tried to get them to rise up. It is Indian ideology and the belief in karma with reincarnation that led Rukmani and many other Indian people to a passive life.
Foremost, social norms impact many of our behaviors. The human need to conform to others and be accepted is the main reason there are social norms and why they are followed. Today, going to college has become a social norm, so much so, that many jobs require a college degree that did not before. In the past, only highly prestigious positions careers required a degree, but now, most do. Also, with many people’s friends attending college, they try to conform. This creates an endless effect, in which more and more people end up attending
All cultures have a set system of ideals, norms, and values. The culture in which an individual lives tries to encourage these views of appropriate behavior. When an individual does not follow what is considered “societal norms” then they are viewed as an outcast. In public spaces, individuals do what they can to “fit-in”. To be on the inside is to follow the norm. Norms are “behavioral regularities in a society as well as … behavioral expectations.” (Campennì, Andrighetto and Conte 17).