Teen Titans Breaching Experiment

Keano Beltran | Clarice Cortes | Nicole Lim | Ren Murillo | Patrick Ronquillo | Alex Sarino
SA21 - B

1. What norm did you violate?

Normally, we would just pass by people we do not know or people who are sitting quietly alone. One does not simply walk to a person, act really friendly and share a problem of yours or ask if they have a problem or something. We violated the norm of not talking to strangers when put in a situation wherein you are either sitting beside them or in a general situation wherein you guys are just somehow together. In general, we have been warned not to talk to people we don’t know, but in this experiment, we tried to break that practice and started talking to random strangers that we find.

2. Describe the breaching experiment in detail? What was the activity? Where did you do it?

The group’s experiments is to suddenly socialize with strangers about anything right after meeting them. In essence, it is when you are put in situation wherein you are with a stranger then you talk them because normally, you do not talk to strangers. We did this inside the campus, specifically, Rizal Library 5th floor, the forest walkway and in Gonzaga cafeteria.

3. What were the different reactions of the people?

As expected, all of them looked really puzzled initially but then, all were kind enough to entertain and answer questions after. One girl raised an eyebrow at our groupmate and asked, “Why are you talking to me?” but she did not look pissed or mad, just perplexed at the idea of some stranger abruptly talking out of the blue. Nonetheless, the girl was kind enough to answer questions and engage in small conversation. A look of suspicion was still there though but when we finally revealed that this is for SA, she smiled and we thanked her.

Another girl with earphones, sitting alone in the library, had a bemused expression. When one member shared a girlfriend problem to her, she was indifferent but eventually she conversed after a while. When the topic changed from girlfriend issues to favorite tv shows, the conversation warmed up. She told our groupmate her favorite tv show and shared that she hasn’t watched the last episode yet.

A boy who was studying alone was also puzzled when a groupmate talked to him but he was so into his reading that he just didn’t have time like the others, but of course, he answered when a question was being asked. He was really annoyed and uninterested because he was focused on studying.

One of our members talked to a girl who was eating alone in the Gonzaga caf. She also looked confused at first but she was really cool with it and started the conversation easily. She talked to our groupmate like he is one of her friends. When he shared about his academic life, she also shared hers. They also got to talked about their courses and their social life in Ateneo. All in all, she was really nice and friendly.

Another groupmate randomly talked to a girl having merienda in the cafeteria alone. He approached and asked her if he can sit with her on that same table where she is staying. The girl, puzzled at first, eventually allowed him to do so. But when our groupmate started to share his “problems” the girl asked if that was a prank or something like that. She said that she has to go somewhere else but our groupmate insisted for her to listen to him first. After some time, the girl acted and talked more comfortable and surprisingly she really listened to our groupmate’s story and tried to give her insights and recommendations to the problem.

I think they were shocked at first and some were very suspicious because normally, one does not simply make friends with a stranger out of the blue. Also, when we were little, our parents taught us not to talk to strangers and so it is really understandable if people will look suspicious or annoyed if a stranger walks to them and talks to them like they both know each other. Some people were extra nice and friendly, maybe because they knew that we mean no harm. I mean they are sure that we are not part of a gang of sort, that would endanger them. They only thought that we just needed a little help and so they were kind enough to listen and engage in conversation with us.

The deviant act in a way re-affirms the norm of not trusting strangers easily because we are afraid to get negative reactions from people we don't know and of course we are taught not to talk to strangers when we are young.

4. Aside from the norms, what sociological themes are at play for people to react in a certain way?

Whenever we talked to our “victims”, we started the conversation by asking if we could sit beside them and then followed by introducing ourselves. Though we violated the norm as the conversation went on because we would be sharing some stuff that weren’t significant to them, we still had this notion of folkway introductions since we tend to begin by saying our names and asking for permission. Symbols are also present in this breaching experiment because some of the subjects looked at other things or were doing other things while we were sharing our random stories, which could mean that they were not interested in them. The concept of dramaturgy is being portrayed as well, knowing that suddenly talking to a stranger and listening to their random stories are somewhat odd situations, these could create a front and back stage. With our perspectives, we had this front stage of smiling frequently so as not to intimidate the subjects. We also talked and acted in a gentle and friendly way so that they would be comfortable. On the other hand, our back stage was seen as the fear of rejection and ignorance since we were strange to them. Another is the fear of the possibility that they might humiliate us particularly by words. We were annoyed as well because even though they did not ignore us, they were, sometimes, not listening to our sharing, but still, we kept on smiling at them.

5. How did you feel when you did this experiment?

        We were hesitant to do the activity at first, nobody really wanted to go first. We were scared and nervous that maybe they will react negatively or even disregard us. We had to draw lots to find out who was going to go first. One after another, we got more comfortable with what we are doing and enjoyed the activity. Also, the different reactions of different people became interesting and amusing at the same time. It was an embarrassing yet a very memorable experience. Somehow it gives a  feeling to deviate from society’s norms.

6. Other observations and analysis that you may have on the activity and on deviance in general.

An interesting bit is that when something out of the ordinary does happen to a person, the “victim” starts looking at their surroundings to check for other signs of abnormality as if any other abnormality would likely explain the situation they are in. Right after finding that they are probably the only ones experiencing the abnormality, they immediately try to normalize the situation either by entertaining the possibility or completely revoking it. In general, most deviant actions are uncomfortable at least and outright annoying at worst. Deviance is any form of action that is considered to be unusual but plausible of the situation, as such, a way less travelled of sorts but anything more than this may already start straying away from deviance and into Illegal area so doing these things shall be well pre-meditated.

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x-gv8Ldykg&feature=youtu.be