The social science experiment I conducted involved me violating a social norm and observing the reactions I would get for doing something considered “not normal” by societal standards. I monitored the reactions of five different groups throughout the experiment to get the best results. I rode the elevator five times but instead of standing the “normal” way which is facing the door an unspoken social norm I stood the wrong way. I stood backwards facing the back instead of the door. I got various reactions ranging from laughing to even being asked if I was ok this contradicted my hypothesis and proved it wrong which was even if I stand the wrong way in the elevator and go against the social norm then people still won’t really react.
The experiment proved a lot about social norms and breaking them. It showed the significance of social norms how much social norms play a role in society and how people as individuals act. The social norm I broke was implicit yet it proved to be so great in how people saw me and how they reacted. Me standing the wrong way changed the way some people felt in the elevator they started to feel uncomfortable because my actions went against the social norm which is standing facing the door and anything that goes against the social norm is not normal. The gesture was small yet it proved to generate greater reactions. This experiment proves that there are such things as social norms that aren’t even formally stated and as a society rules are set as to how once should behave and when broken one is met with reactions and seen as different and “not normal”.
This experiment proved my hypothesis wrong. While I had thought I wouldn’t get any reactions I did in reality get many reactions from staring to being asked if I was ok. Many people stared at me as though there was something wrong with me or even felt uncomfortable around me. My hypothesis was proven wrong because clearly breaking a social norm is more significant then I had assumed. Even in fast paced places like N.Y.C. where people tend to be too busy to notice, people notice the breaking of social norms and react toward it because that is how people were taught to look at differently those who don’t follow the social norm. I had believed that in places like N.Y.C. where the attitude of minding your business is what people shape there lives around this would not be the case but I was wrong. Adhering to social norms is clearly a big part of people’s lives and shapes the way they act. What surprised me about the results was the way people acted toward me how some people were feeling uncomfortable. This surprised me because they were acting like there might be something wrong with me just because I was standing the wrong way. The man who asked me if I ok shocked me the most because I didn’t expect any one to actually ask me this. All of this also shows how the environment plays a role in a person’s life. The social norms of a place which differ from place to place shapes the society it sets the social code.
There were clear visible differences between the control group and the experiment group which was exposed to the variable. The control group of course did not react in any way toward me. But when I exposed the variable to the experimental group everything changed. People started to notice me they stared they gave me looks like there might be something wrong with me. The two groups differed in behaviors. The elevator rides differed in that the people acted completely different toward me in the two cases. This is evident in all the reactions I got from the staring to getting looks. People stayed away from me they were uncomfortable something not evident in the control group. Especially in the case of the man who asked me if I was ok. His behavior and the rest of the experimental group showed how me breaking the social norm affects not only me but the people around me and changes the way I am seen to the world. He would have probably not asked me this is I was standing the right way. But because I violated the social norm his behavior and reactions changed. The groups acted differently because of the variable which made all the difference.
One can bring in conformity to explain these results. Society as a whole has learned to conform so as not to be the odd one out. The social based rules that were made people as a whole have learned to change there behavior to conform to the universal social code so they aren’t different. And when they see someone who acts differently they see them as “weird” different. People like behaviorists would say have been “shaped” a certain way a socially acceptable which is why people reacted the way they did to me. I went against everyone the rules of society by not conforming hence I was the odd one out. If it weren’t for the social norms then maybe I would not have gotten the reactions I did because there wouldn’t be anything to conform too. Also one can being in compliance in the case of the teenage boy and girl. From the reactions one can say the girl was complying with the boy who kept pointing it out to her. She decided to listen to the boy. He wasn’t an authority figure but her peer hence she complied with listening to him and staring at me. Group thinking was also evident in the reactions of the elementary school kids who were all pointing and laughing as one instead of one of them deciding not to do it and going against it. One can infer that some of the reactions showed the following of the social norm of not being rude. While some of them stared they did not do anything as not to be rude which is in its own way following a social norm of politeness.
This experiment has taught me basically a lot more about social norms and society. I got to see first hand how social norms work and how much they play a role in everyone’s daily lives. I learned how people react toward people who don’t follow the social norms and break them. I got to see how behaviors changed when I compared the control group to the experimental and I saw how even people’s personalities change. If this experiment was conducted somewhere else I would say definitely the results would be different. Because the place makes the social norms. Every environment is different and society makes rule based on that. What might be acceptable in one place might not be so acceptable in another and vice versa. For example in some place standing away at a decent distance is considered disrespectful that is going against the social norm whereas in America that is not the case. Here standing too close is breaking the social norm. The results might have been more drastic or there might have not been any reaction at all.
This experiment helped in proving the significance of social norms. The experiment also proved to show the difference between following and breaking social norms. After breaking the social norm I got to see many reactions which proved my hypothesis wrong and showed how conformity has a strong impact on society. By standing backwards in an elevator I broke the social norm of standing facing the door and hence I became the odd one out. I enjoyed doing this experiment as a whole.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Blog 2- Observations/ Results
After conducting the experiment these were my results what I found.
My findings: There were clear differences between the control and experimental group.
1st time- The first time the people in the elevator were: a college aged male, a young woman with a baby, and two boys around the age of 13-15.
My findings- No one reacted drastically but I got looks from the two boys. They stared at me until we reached the 1st floor. The college aged male wasn’t paying attention he had headphones on he was already in the elevator before me. The young woman with the baby gave me a look when first entering but did not look at me any further once she entered the elevator.
2nd time- The elevator became too full. It was hard to keep count of the people on who they were but I was naturally pushed to the back and hence did not get any reactions. No one paid any attention to me.
3rd time- The third time the people in the elevator were: a middle aged man, a woman with a girl, a young man, and a teenaged girl and boy.
My findings- The most interesting reaction occurred here. The middle aged man asked me if I was ok and when I answered I was fine he continued to stare at me until he got off on 2nd floor. The teenaged girl and boy also stared but did not do anything further the boy kept pointing it out to the girl. The woman with the girl kept telling the girls who were staring and making comments to stop. The young man stared for a few second when I first entered but just avoided me. He stayed away.
4th time- The fourth time the people in the elevator were: a young couple, 3 elementary school kids (a girl and 2 boys).
My findings- The three elementary school kids were the most interesting here they were pointing fingers and laughing. The young couple was visibly getting uncomfortable and avoided me.
5th time- The fifth time the people in the elevator were: a man, a woman, and a group of three women, who entered at once.
My findings- The man gave the most significant reaction. He kept staring back and giving me looks. It was apparent he was getting uncomfortable. The three women were talking animatedly about something to pay much attention and the woman was on the phone but kept giving me looks.
Results conclusions/ what observations show- There was a clear difference in reactions between me standing the normal way and me breaking the social norm and standing the wrong way.
My findings: There were clear differences between the control and experimental group.
1st time- The first time the people in the elevator were: a college aged male, a young woman with a baby, and two boys around the age of 13-15.
My findings- No one reacted drastically but I got looks from the two boys. They stared at me until we reached the 1st floor. The college aged male wasn’t paying attention he had headphones on he was already in the elevator before me. The young woman with the baby gave me a look when first entering but did not look at me any further once she entered the elevator.
2nd time- The elevator became too full. It was hard to keep count of the people on who they were but I was naturally pushed to the back and hence did not get any reactions. No one paid any attention to me.
3rd time- The third time the people in the elevator were: a middle aged man, a woman with a girl, a young man, and a teenaged girl and boy.
My findings- The most interesting reaction occurred here. The middle aged man asked me if I was ok and when I answered I was fine he continued to stare at me until he got off on 2nd floor. The teenaged girl and boy also stared but did not do anything further the boy kept pointing it out to the girl. The woman with the girl kept telling the girls who were staring and making comments to stop. The young man stared for a few second when I first entered but just avoided me. He stayed away.
4th time- The fourth time the people in the elevator were: a young couple, 3 elementary school kids (a girl and 2 boys).
My findings- The three elementary school kids were the most interesting here they were pointing fingers and laughing. The young couple was visibly getting uncomfortable and avoided me.
5th time- The fifth time the people in the elevator were: a man, a woman, and a group of three women, who entered at once.
My findings- The man gave the most significant reaction. He kept staring back and giving me looks. It was apparent he was getting uncomfortable. The three women were talking animatedly about something to pay much attention and the woman was on the phone but kept giving me looks.
Results conclusions/ what observations show- There was a clear difference in reactions between me standing the normal way and me breaking the social norm and standing the wrong way.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Blog 1- Pre- Experiment Blog Entry
My social science experiment is going to be breaking a social norm. The experiment I am going to conduct is one where I am going to take the elevator but I am going to stand backwards and face the back wall instead of the door which is what is usually done the normal way. This will be my experimental group. I will then compare my results to a controlling group where I will stand the right way. I am going to be doing this in an apartment building elevator across the street from mine where I will take the elevator for four floors before starting again.
My results are going to be evaluated by comparing them against the social norm of standing the right way. I am going to see how people react as oppose to me standing facing the right way. I will compare my results to the controlling group. My outcome will be measured with the people’s reactions how they react to me standing that way. I will be looking for reactions such as staring, getting looks, even laughter or questioned by someone. I will monitor five different groups by doing the experiment five different times. The control group for this experiment will be the group where I stand the right way facing the door this is the group which will be compared to the experimental group that will get the variable where I will face the back wall instead of the door.
My variable for this experiment will be me standing the wrong way. My hypothesis for this experiment is that even if I stand the wrong way in the elevator and go against the social norm then people still won’t really react. I expect the outcome to still be the same as me standing the right way which wouldn’t get any reactions. I believe this will be the results because of the fact that the people in N.Y.C. tend to mind there own business and not really react to actions that go against the social norms because the environment has made them like that and because they have seen even worse. I believe the people in question who are being monitored affects the experiment and changes the results.
My results are going to be evaluated by comparing them against the social norm of standing the right way. I am going to see how people react as oppose to me standing facing the right way. I will compare my results to the controlling group. My outcome will be measured with the people’s reactions how they react to me standing that way. I will be looking for reactions such as staring, getting looks, even laughter or questioned by someone. I will monitor five different groups by doing the experiment five different times. The control group for this experiment will be the group where I stand the right way facing the door this is the group which will be compared to the experimental group that will get the variable where I will face the back wall instead of the door.
My variable for this experiment will be me standing the wrong way. My hypothesis for this experiment is that even if I stand the wrong way in the elevator and go against the social norm then people still won’t really react. I expect the outcome to still be the same as me standing the right way which wouldn’t get any reactions. I believe this will be the results because of the fact that the people in N.Y.C. tend to mind there own business and not really react to actions that go against the social norms because the environment has made them like that and because they have seen even worse. I believe the people in question who are being monitored affects the experiment and changes the results.
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