Analyzing Social Norms: Breaching Experiments Report for Psychology

This report presents an analysis of breaching experiments, exploring how individuals react when social norms are violated. The student conducted two experiments: singing loudly on a bus and initiating conversations in an elevator. The experiments aimed to observe reactions to unconventional behavior in public settings. The report discusses the concept of social norms as accepted behaviors within a group or community, highlighting that these norms are often most noticeable when broken. The findings reveal reactions of surprise, confusion, and discomfort from the participants, underscoring the importance of adhering to social expectations. The report concludes that people generally navigate daily life guided by societal norms, and deviations from these norms are often perceived as inappropriate or wrong, thus emphasizing the powerful influence of social norms on behavior and perception.

Running head: BREACHING EXPERIMENTS
BREACHING EXPERIMENTS
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1BREACHING EXPERIMENTS
Society consists of various norms, and human being acts upon it in a distinctive way.
While some norms are explicitly mentioned and said out loud, few norms are implicit and not
easily noted in daily behaviours (Clinard & Meier, 2015). Breaching experiments are
experiments used in various field of study that experiment with people’s reaction when a norm is
violated. In a similar aspect, the essay aims to discuss the concept of norms and the reason it is
problematic to violate them. The aim of the essay involves understanding the concepts involving
two social norm violation that has been done in practical practice.
A social norm can be defined as the accepted behaviour or the commonly accepted
behaviour that an individual may anticipate confirming for being in a particular group, culture
and community (Linehan, 2018). In any society, norms often play a significant role by creating
the foundation of correct behaviours. Social norms help in expecting the expected behaviour in
specific settings. Social norms depend on several factors, it can be time oriented, and it may
differ as per the culture and according to place. Social norms are not easily noticed however, it is
most noted when it is not followed or violated (Kelder, Hoelscher & Perry, 2015). The breaching
experiment is one of the experiments that is 'out of the ordinary' that is not common in a
particular society. There is two breaching experiment that has been carried out in this particular
paper that involves two violation of social norms to observe the reaction of people.
Experiment 1: The first experiment was when I was on a bus and started singing out loud. I
boarded a bus in the city with approximately 25 passengers. The bus I selected for the
experiment was outside my town to avoid being recognised. As soon as I found an appropriate
seat, I began listening to music on my iPod. After a while I began singing loudly although I was
not listening to any music, pretending to enjoy my music. The passengers reacted as soon as I
began singing loudly which I observed. I could hear the passengers talking about my behaviour.

2BREACHING EXPERIMENTS
The immediate reaction of the passengers was amazement. While most of the passengers
gave me a look of amazement and surprise, few of them gave a long stare. By the look on their
face, it was apparent they were startled with the thought of me being mentally healthy. Two of
the old aged passenger sitting near me changed their seat to somewhere far without any
comment. A passenger told the next person that I could be drunk probably. Overall the entire
scene was weird.
People believe it is appropriate to behave in a controlled manner in public spaces
(Dunning, Murphy & Williams, 2014). Therefore, when you make informal and act in an
uncontrolled manner, people assume it as weird behaviour, or out of order behaviour.
Experiment 2: Get on the elevator, face unknown people and engage them in conversation
While I was in a shopping mall with my friend outside my hometown, I decided to do this
particular experiment. We got in an elevator full of people where we began taking over
everyone. We spoke of various topics, and we noted some frowned looks. When most of the
people moved out of the elevator, there was only one person, and it was easy to get reactions by
invading personal space. While we were talking about kids, I asked the person if the person has
any kid or not. It was highly awkward, and she was surprised at the tone of my voice which was
very friendly. Although she replied, however, it was very brief.
There are some unspoken rules in the elevator where people like their own space and
privacy. They like being respected in that short duration (Young, 2013). Therefore, when a
person violates the norm of keeping silence in the elevator, unusual reactions are obtained from
people. When a person is with a stranger, space becomes highly confined space. People are not
accustomed to talking with strangers and expect the same from every people.

3BREACHING EXPERIMENTS
Through the help of breaching experiment it can be understood that people behave on the
broader thought pattern, even though people may think something that does not fall under the
norms, they modify the thinking assuming it right and appropriate. People live daily lives guided
by the rest of society. The way of perceiving things depend on the generalised perspective.
Therefore, when an incident occurs that does not align with the societal norms, it appears wrong
and inappropriate.

4BREACHING EXPERIMENTS
References:
Clinard, M. B., & Meier, R. F. (2015). Sociology of deviant behavior. Nelson Education.
Dunning, E., Murphy, P. J., & Williams, J. (2014). The roots of football hooliganism (RLE
sports studies): An historical and sociological study. Routledge.
Kelder, S. H., Hoelscher, D., & Perry, C. L. (2015). How individuals, environments, and health
behaviors interact. Health behavior: Theory, research, and practice, 159.
Linehan, M. M. (2018). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of borderline personality disorder.
Guilford Publications.
Young, K. (2013). Managing online identity and diverse social networks on
Facebook. Webology, 10(2).