Violating Social Norms Essay

Tags: social norm human body space theater

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 845 words ( 3 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 0

Page 1 of 3

Social Psychological Experiment: Violating Social Norms



Most Americans place a high priority on their personal space as evidenced by how far people stand apart from each other in virtually any public setting. Indeed, most Americans will unconsciously gauge just how much space is available for their personal space -- even on crowded elevators -- and when this personal space is violated, many people will experience discomfort and even alarm. While the reactions may differ, it is reasonable to posit that most Americans will react to violations of their personal space in some fashion. To gain some additional insights into this phenomenon, this paper describes a social psychological experiment in which the researcher intentionally violated a common social norm by sitting next to other people in an uncrowded movie theater where other seating was readily available in order to gauge their reactions. A more complete description of the experiment is followed by a discussion of the results and what was concluded from this experiment and how these findings supported the guiding hypothesis.

Explanation of the selected topic



Personal space is a nebulous concept but an important one for most Americans. For instance, when someone stands too close to others, they tend to naturally move away as quickly as possible to restore the integrity of their personal space even in crowded conditions. When conditions are not crowded, this sense of personal space is likely expanded proportionately to encompass as much of the surroundings as possible.

Description of social norms



Social norms are defined by Anomaly and Brennan (2014) as “emergent rules or behavioral regularities that arise as solutions to collective action problems of various kinds faced by individuals when they interact with each other” (p. 264). Some common examples of social norms in the United States include shaking hands, refraining from picking one’s nose in public, not standing too close to others, and never sitting right next to someone unless a movie theater is crowded (Social norm examples, 2016).

Stuck Writing Your "Violating Social Norms Essay" ?

View All Our Example Violating Social Norms Essay

Have A Custom Example Essay Written



Selected social norm



Because it is ubiquitous and easily observable, this experiment selected personal space as the social norm. According to the definition provided by Khan and Kamal (2010), “The term personal space was introduced into the psychological literature to describe the zone around the human body that people feel is 'their space.. This is the absolute minimal normally acceptable distance to separate individuals in most common settings” (p. 81). The precise dimensions of an individual’s personal space vary according to age, culture, gender, and context of the setting, as well as other factors (Khan & Kamal, 2010).

Explanation of hypothesis



It was the hypothesis of this experiment that most if not all movie-goers would react in some fashion when a stranger sat down next to them in a movie theater that was no crowded and where there was an abundance of other seating available.

Anticipated reactions of movie-goers



It was anticipated that movie-goers would react alternatively by either questioning the researcher’s rationale for the seating choice, moving to another seat further away….....

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


References

Anomaly, J. & Brenna, G. (2014, December). Social norms, the invisible hand, and the law. University of Queensland Law Journal, 33(2), 263-266.

Khan, A. Y. & Kamal, A. (2010, July 1). Exploring reactions to invasion of personal space in university students. Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 20(2), 80-83.

Social norm examples. (2016). LoveToKnow. Retrieved from http://examples.yourdictionary. com/social-norm-examples.html.

sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Violating Social Norms Essay" (2017, July 22) Retrieved April 19, 2024, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/violating-social-norms-essay

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Violating Social Norms Essay" 22 July 2017. Web.19 April. 2024. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/violating-social-norms-essay>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Violating Social Norms Essay", 22 July 2017, Accessed.19 April. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/violating-social-norms-essay
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example