Break a Norm

profiledepressedstudent

 

Step 1Identify a social norm. Some examples are:

  • Interpersonal Behavior (stand too close or too far away from someone; avoid eye contact; scoff at a person’s every comment)
  • Appearance (you can wear pink slippers to school or around town instead of shoes; put a blue dot on the tip of your nose; wear your shirt backward / inside-out; overdo your makeup) 
  • Social Etiquette (violate elevator norms; eat with mouth open; talk loudly in a library; fly a kite inside the mall)
  • THESE ARE ONLY EXAMPLES. PLEASE TRY TO BE CREATIVE & COME UP WITH SOME ORIGINAL IDEAS ON YOUR OWN

Note: You may want to do the behavior several times in different places to note any interesting patterns. Do people’s reactions may differ as a function of sex, age, location?

Step 2 Please submit answers to the questions separately, though they can all build on the same content. Note that a good rule of thumb for detail is about 1 sentence per point. So for a 5 point question, 5 sentences is a good start! 

1). What implicit norm(s) did you violate? (5 points)

2). Describe how you violated it. (9 points)

3). Analyze your thoughts and feelings while violating the norm(s). (9 points)

4). Analyze what other people were probably thinking about violation. (9 points)

5). Did you gain any insight into your own or others’ behavior? What about the power of the situation? (9 points)

6). Include AT LEAST ONE key social psychological principle. You may want to include something about role-playing, conformity / nonconformity, normative social influence, cognitive dissonance, self-monitoring, etc. Make sure to define the principle before applying it (9 points)

  • a year ago
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