Essay On Norm Violation

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The norm that I decided to violate was walking on the opposite side of the sidewalk every day for 3 days. It is an unspoken rule that people should always walk on the right side of the sidewalk. When this is disrupted by walking on the left side, confusion strikes. People are usually in a hurry to get to class and someone messing with their environment such as walking straight into them might delay them.
The setting I chose was social. I would do this experiment while walking to and from classes. I thought that this would be the best time to put this norm violation into action because there are always tons of people walking to and from classes when I am also.
I felt very nervous before I would start walking on the left side of the sidewalk. I knew that I was violating a very obvious norm. I did not know how people were going to react at first to what I was doing. While I was doing this, I tried pretending that I was looking at my phone and that it was no big deal that I was walking on the wrong side. I made it seem casual. Once I was done with this norm experience, I felt like it was a good thing that I did this norm violation. Even …show more content…

They determine how someone is going to act and how they expect others to act the same when interacting in public places. Norms have quite a bit of influence on how someone acts as they are growing up. Children learn these norms as they are getting older by watching it and repeating it. Personally I learned that I am someone who likes to just follow norms. When I was breaking this norm it bothered me because I felt like I was doing something wrong. I like order and consistency, so breaking this norm was difficult. I thought that this experiment was a great experience for everyone to get out of their comfort zone and to help them not conform to society for just a little