Social norm project PDF

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Social Norm Project The social world we live in is composed of, among other things, thousands of rules, norms, and laws. Some of these are perfectly explicit (in America we drive on the right hand side of the street by custom and law), others are so implicit that we rarely articulate them (we shake hands with the right hand). Some norms are explicitly taught (various rules of politeness) whereas others are probably not taught explicitly at all but are simply passed along through observation (generally applauding at the end of a musical piece, except that we do not applaud hymns in church services). Some norms apply almost universally (say hello -- or something equivalent -- when you answer the phone), while others may apply only to individual social groups (Jane washes dishes on the nights she doesn't cook). Norms can be defined in at least two ways. The first is the pressure we feel to behave in certain ways; you know, for example, that you would be criticized if you spit on someone at dinner. Second, however, even when there is no such explicit knowledge of pressures, norms may exist when there are regularities of behavior; for example, students tend to sit in the same seats in a given class even though they may not feel any particular social pressure to do so. For this project, you must break a social norm and write about your experience. Try to be clever in your observations by looking for the non-obvious. Rules for norm violating: 1) Be safe. This rule trumps all other rules. 2) You must violate the norm alone (no one else can be violating it with you). However, you can have a friend watch you and make observations. 3) The behavior you choose may be non-normative across our culture or a small group (like your family) 4) You many not harm anyone, including yourself. This includes getting yourself in trouble. 5) You may NOT disrupt your classes. 6) You may NOT break any laws. 7) Only break one norm at a time. While violating the norm, act totally normally in every other way. Violating many norms at once simply makes you look like a crazy teenager, thus you aren’t really breaking a norm (people expect teens to act crazy sometimes). 8) Do something you wouldn’t normally do. Ideas for norms: 1) Break rules of social distance: sit down with a stranger at a restaurant even if other tables are clearly available, speak to an acquaintance at an unusually small distance, stand right next to another person in an elevator when only two of you are there, hold hands with a friend of the same sex, surprise a same-sex friend with a kiss on the cheek, stand too close to someone in line in front of you. 2) Be unusually helpful: buy a small present and give it to a barely known acquaintance, pass out nickels to strangers on the street, make helpful suggestions to strangers on what to buy in a supermarket 3) Break rules for eye contact: Make too much eye contact (stare) or too little, talk to others while looking at their forehead or ear, stare at strangers walking past on the sidewalk, blink excessively. 4) Dress inappropriately: dress for a different season, dress too fancy or too casual

5) Obey the speed limit 6) Break norms of social etiquette: cut into the middle of a line, ask someone you don’t know for his/her seat in a public place, applaud at the end of a class, randomly greet people as they walk into school with a handshake and a “good morning”

Part I: Research the norms of another culture. Choose a foreign culture and identify at least three norms of that culture that differ from American norms. Be sure to include specific behaviors and cite your sources internally.

Part II: Breaking a norm Pick a social norm to break. Break the norm around at least three different groups of people. The groups should differ in some identifiable way; the may differ in age, how well you know them, status, gender, whatever. In your PowerPoint, describe the social norm you violated and how you went about doing so. Clearly identify the three groups you broke your norm in front of. Part III: Reactions 1) Describe your own and others’ reactions before, during, and after each violation. 2) Note any differences between the groups’ reactions and discuss possible reasons for them. 3) Describe how the fundamental attribution error played a role in your situations. Part IV: Opinions 1) What did this exercise teach you about the experiences of people who don't "fit in" because they are new to our culture or are handicapped in some way? 2) Some people regularly choose to break social norms and act as social deviants. Name 2-3 famous people who you consider to be social deviants. Why do you think some people choose to be social deviants? Part V: Works Cited Include a works cited page for any sources you cited. Mechanics: PowerPoint should be a minimum of 10 slides. You should divide it into sections with headings for each section. Pictures should be included.

Grading Rubric (attach to your paper) Content

Organization

Citation/

A - PowerPoint contains all of the required content and reveals thought and insight. - The information in this PowerPoint is incredibly easy to follow and sorted in the proper sections. - PowerPoint properly

B - PowerPoint contains all of the required content but minimally so.

C - PowerPoint is lacking several aspects of the required content.

- The PowerPoint is basically well organized, but occasionally hard to follow.

- The PowerPoint is organized into complete paragraphs, but there is little evidence of overall organization or transition.

- PowerPoint makes a

- PowerPoint includes a

F - PowerPoint is lacking large amounts of the required content. - PowerPoint lacks any clear sense of organization.

- PowerPoint includes

bibliography

Style and conventions

cites all sources using in-text citation (in the form of parenthetical citation). -PowerPoint includes a properly formatted and complete bibliography of all sources. - PowerPoint uses a variety of sentence structures and sophisticated word choice. - There are virtually no errors in standard writing conventions. - PowerPoint is a minimum of 10 slides and includes a variety of pictures.

good-faith effort to cite all research within the body of the paper. - PowerPoint includes a complete bibliography that needs little revision.

no indication of bibliography but uses little or no in-text citation outside research. to denote which piece of information came from which source.

- Student made a clear effort to vary sentence structure and use specific vocabulary. - There are very few errors in grammar and spelling, and these can be easily fixed.

- PowerPoint is difficult to read because of a multitude of errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, etc. - Student’s presentation is simplistic and repetitive.

- PowerPoint is so full of errors that it is impossible to concentrate on the contents of the essay.

Effects of Breaking a Social Norm

Give some thought to the social norms influencing your current behavior. Identify one that you will break. Be sure that you do not pick one that will cause harm to you or someone else and DO NOT break any laws. Let me repeat that, “DO NOT PUT YOURSELF OR ANYONE AT DANGER AND DO NOT BREAK LAWS.” Some examples of social norms that students have violated are sitting with strangers at the same table at the food court in the mall, men wearing lipstick and nail polish, going into the revolving door with a stranger , singing happy birthday in the elevator, taking items out of other people’s grocery carts, etc. After you have decided what social norm you will break, pick a couple of situations which you will break this norm. These should be situations where other people will witness your behavior. The kind of situations you pick will depend on the norms you choose. Pay attention to your feelings and reactions just prior to breaking the norm, how you feel while you are breaking the norm, and also after you are done. Pay attention to the reactions of other people around you as you are breaking the norm. Some students have found this easier to do if they have a friend with them who knows what is going on as they break the norm.

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