psych social norms

Violating Social Norms Social norms exist throughout our society, many of which are commonly known. To violate one of these norms could cause severe cases of disgust and anger amongst those who feel violated. In order to test and gauge the responses of individuals I decided to take advantage of riding an elevator at the Nebraska State Capitol and stopping at every floor. Although uncomfortable and somewhat unpleasant, the experience was useful to gain insight as to how serious social norms and the role they play in people’s lives. For this assignment I decided to violate the social norm as a solo act. I was already going to the State Capitol Building for a guided tour with classmates in another course for an assignment. After touring the building we decided to visit the Observational Level on the 14th floor. This provided me with an amble opportunity to complete my violation. Once everyone had stepped inside the elevator I immediately pressed every available button for every floor. Initial reactions consisted of shock, anger, and disgust. I could tell this by both the glares and comments made to me. Thankfully I was amongst friends or else I fear I would have received a worse tongue lashing. This elevator was considerably old, slow, and rather small which added to everyone’s distemper as we made our ascent at a crawl. At times there was laughter and at others cursing. Looking back at the experience it wasn’t the most pleasant experience, but it was comical in a way to have a little fun with some fellow classmates and use them as my guinea pigs for my little experiment. Needless to say they made me ride the elevator alone on our descent back to ground level.