Social Norm Violations

In order to understand our adherence to social norms we must understand what they are and the various ways in which they can be broken and violated. These violations can vary greatly and be anywhere between quirky and frightening. The intensity of discomfort associated with these violations depends not only on the violation itself but on the individual performing, experiencing, or witnessing it making the spectrum of reactions widespread and interesting. There are two ways to truly explore norm violations, to observe others both performing and reacting to violations and to perform them yourself and observe the reactions of others. The first step in exploring this idea is defining our terms. According to our text book mores are the set of
Outright accusing people of being sinners and condemning them to hell was a norm violation that directly involved people who had been previously ignoring him in the situation. I found it interesting that people who previously had no interest in the situation would then become involved in order to defend themselves or others, or to show their disapproval of the comment. The behavior that seemed to upset others the most were his attacks on other spiritual and religious paths and ways. Overall the overarching theme of his social violations and the reactions to them was that of a bully and a varied group of students, some of them victims, some of them willing to stand up, and most of them willing to ignore the
On campus it is socially accepted that when you pass by a stranger you are to ignore them. Looking others in the eye, smiling, or verbally greeting someone you do not know is out of the question. When I did verbally and nonverbally greet strangers that I passed one morning on my way to a class I got a variety of reactions. It is simplest to break them into small groups. The first group being those few people who all had similar reactions in that their body language showed surprise but they greeted me in return with a word or a smile in line with my action. If I said good morning to someone I got back either a verbal greeting or a smile but if I simply smiled in greeting I got only a smile and no verbal greeting in return. The second group reacted in such a way that it was clear that what I had done was socially unacceptable and I received no greeting from this group. What I did receive were looks of confusion mixed with irritation. Most of the people in this group passed me quickly, being careful not to look at me again, after I greeted them. Two of these people who passed me together began a hushed conversation after they went by me. I could not hear what was said but the tone was certainly one of disapproval and gossip. This project certainly helped illustrate the strong adherence to social norms within different groups and how reactions to things that seem simple can be very strong. We are all socially programmed and