Unit IV Norm-Breaking Worksheet: Complete The Following Ques ✓ Solved

Unit IV Norm-Breaking Worksheet: Complete the following ques

Unit IV Norm-Breaking Worksheet: Complete the following questions about your norm-breaking experience. Answer the questions directly. What norm did you decide to break? Was it a formal or informal norm? What were your thoughts, concerns, and feelings before breaking it? What were your behaviors or actions while breaking the norm? Describe what happened during the experience and how you felt while breaking the norm. How did others react? How did the reaction reinforce or not reinforce the norm? What did you learn about yourself or others from this experience?

Paper For Above Instructions

Introduction

This paper documents a deliberate norm-breaking exercise conducted to observe personal feelings, behaviors, and social reactions. The exercise involved violating a common everyday expectation to better understand how social norms operate in micro-interactions and how violations influence perceptions and group enforcement (Bicchieri, 2006; Cialdini & Trost, 1998).

What norm I decided to break

I chose to break the informal norm of maintaining conventional personal space and greeting norms in a mid-sized grocery store. Specifically, when passing familiar checkout staff and shoppers, I intentionally did not smile, nod, or say a greeting (e.g., "hello" or "have a nice day") and, on a subsequent pass, I stopped at an unusual distance that reduced the expected reciprocal acknowledging behavior. This is an everyday, low-stakes norm that governs politeness and proxemic behavior (Goffman, 1963; Hall, 1966 as discussed in social norm literature).

Formal or informal?

The norm was informal. It is not codified by law or institutional policy but is a widely shared expectation regulating polite social exchange and proxemics in public settings (Hechter & Opp, 2001; Fehr & Fischbacher, 2004).

Thoughts, concerns, and feelings before breaking the norm

Before the exercise I felt apprehensive and self-conscious; I anticipated mild discomfort, social awkwardness, and possible negative evaluation. Research suggests that violating informal norms can create anxiety because individuals expect social sanctions or disapproval (Asch, 1955; Milgram, 1974). I was also curious whether the anonymity of a public space would buffer or amplify reactions (Bicchieri et al., 2014).

Behaviors and actions during the norm-breaking

I conducted the violation during two separate interactions. In each case I approached a checkout lane where I had previously exchanged small greetings with staff over several visits. On the first pass I avoided eye contact and did not return the usual greeting. On the second pass, I intentionally paused and positioned myself slightly closer than typical conversational distance but did not initiate speech. I kept a neutral facial expression and neutral body posture to avoid signaling an unrelated mood (e.g., frustration) that could confound observers' interpretations.

What happened and in-the-moment feelings

During the first violation the checkout clerk paused mid-motion, offered a tentative “hi” and then slightly withdrew—marked by a brief hesitation before continuing routine tasks. I felt a rising physiological awareness (mild heart rate increase, slight sweating in palms), shame-like discomfort, and internal commentary about whether the action was rude. During the second instance the clerk made a small clearing noise, adjusted their stance, and resumed scanning; no explicit reprimand occurred. The emotional experience while violating the norm included surprise at their brief hesitation, relief when the encounter remained brief, and an intensified awareness of mutual monitoring in social settings (Cialdini & Trost, 1998).

How others reacted

Reactions were subtle rather than overt. The checkout personnel displayed micro-behavioral cues: hesitation, a slight increase in verbal attempts to re-establish the script (a tentative “how are you?”), and nonverbal distancing. Other shoppers nearby showed minimal observable reaction; some glanced briefly but continued shopping. No one confronted or explicitly corrected my behavior. The clerk’s small efforts to restore the typical greeting script functioned as a norm-reinforcement attempt: by offering a greeting the clerk signaled that the interaction was expected to follow the accepted pattern (Bicchieri, 2006; Fehr & Fischbacher, 2004).

How reactions reinforced or did not reinforce the norm

The clerk’s tentative greeting and resumed scanning served to subtly re-impose the norm. By responding with a greeting, the clerk implicitly communicated that the usual pattern should continue, which is consistent with mechanisms by which social norms are maintained—through cues, corrective signals, and low-cost sanctions (Bicchieri et al., 2014; Elster, 1989). The absence of punitive sanction (verbal reprimand or ostracism) suggests that enforcement in this context is predominantly restorative and communicative rather than punitive. The minimal reactions from other shoppers indicated that observers often rely on the interaction’s primary participants to enforce small infractions (Asch, 1955).

What I learned about myself and others

The experience revealed several insights. First, informal norms exert a powerful, often automatic influence on behavior; violating them produced immediate self-consciousness and physiological responses, highlighting internalized normative expectations (Goffman, 1963). Second, enforcement of everyday norms frequently occurs through subtle reparative moves rather than overt punishment: the clerk used a tentative greeting to restore social script, demonstrating how coordination and low-cost signaling maintain normative order (Bicchieri, 2006). Third, observers generally avoid direct confrontation for low-stakes infractions, preferring to let primary interactants resolve deviations. This aligns with findings that social influence and conformity operate via local cues and expectations rather than formal sanctions (Cialdini & Trost, 1998; Fehr & Fischbacher, 2004).

Implications and reflection

The exercise reinforces sociological theories that emphasize both internalized norms and social enforcement. It suggests that everyday politeness rituals are sustained by reciprocal micro-interactions: when one actor deviates, others typically attempt to reestablish normative interaction through brief corrective signals (Bicchieri et al., 2014). For future research or practice, structured norm-breaking in varying cultural contexts could reveal differential enforcement patterns and thresholds for sanctioning (Gino et al., 2009). Personally, the task increased my awareness of how much routine social behavior relies on implicit agreements and how quickly people work to maintain social equilibrium.

Conclusion

The controlled violation of a proxemic and greeting norm in a public setting produced immediate affective responses and subtle social corrections. The encounter demonstrated how informal norms operate through habitual expectation, minor social signals, and low-cost reinforcement rather than through formal sanctions. The exercise deepened my understanding of the dynamic interplay between individual behavior and the social environment in maintaining normative order (Bicchieri, 2006; Hechter & Opp, 2001).

References

• Bicchieri, C. (2006). The Grammar of Society: The Nature and Dynamics of Social Norms. Cambridge University Press.
• Cialdini, R. B., & Trost, M. R. (1998). Social influence: Social norms, conformity and compliance. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), The Handbook of Social Psychology (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
• Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Prentice-Hall.
• Milgram, S. (1974). Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View. Harper & Row.
• Asch, S. E. (1955). Opinions and social pressure. Scientific American, 193(5), 31–35.
• Hechter, M., & Opp, K.-D. (2001). What Have We Learned About the Emergence of Social Norms? In M. Hechter & K.-D. Opp (Eds.), Social Norms. Russell Sage Foundation.
• Fehr, E., & Fischbacher, U. (2004). Social norms and human cooperation. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8(4), 185–190.
• Elster, J. (1989). Social Norms and Economic Theory. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 3(4), 99–117.
• Bicchieri, C., Lindemans, J., & Jiang, T. (2014). A structured approach to a diagnostic of social norms. PLoS ONE, 9(6), e98028.
• Gino, F., Ayal, S., & Ariely, D. (2009). Contagion and differentiation in unethical behavior: The effect of one bad apple on the barrel. Psychological Science, 20(3), 393–398.