Breaching Experiment by BAMF

The main aim of the breaching experiment was to challenge norms of personal space and stranger companionship particularly in the Ateneo campus setting.

The breaching activity involved at least two of the experimenters walking closely on both sides of the unknowing participant. Various experiments were done at different times of the day and in different locations inside the Ateneo de Manila University Loyola Schools campus. One set of experiments was done in SEC Walk. A member would wait on the far end of SEC Walk to capture the experiment on video while two other members stay put on the other end. Any lone passerby is immediately a candidate for participation. The two members would walk beside the target individual and would say as close as possible to (1) indeed challenge the previously mentioned norms and (2) to more accurately observe the participant’s reaction.

The reactions gained from participants of the breaching experiments varied:

·         Give suspecting looks “So weird…”

·         Slow down or increase their pace or stop completely for a while as if considering going the other way

·         Walk to the side to “get rid” of one of the experimenters

·         Attempt to normalize the situation by checking their phones, looking down, reading papers or books they have with them

People not directly involved in the experiment also gave critical looks during the experiment, especially the ones done in SEC Walk. These reactions, both from “victims” of the deviance experiment and the audience, reaffirm existing norms of the value given to personal space and stranger interaction in this specific culture: Ateneo culture and/or Philippine culture (and perhaps most other cultures). They confirm that most people find it weird and uncomfortable when a stranger would challenge the boundaries of their personal space in public.

For the members, on the other hand, felt hesitant to perform at first. The knowledge of having to do a deviant act encouraged the feeling of discomfort (just like the participants), shame, and even guilt at subjecting others to an awkward situation. Most of these feelings were present only at the start, where many failed attempts were made. With more and more trials, however, the deviant act became normal and fun, specifically in witnessing reactions.

Other than norms, reactions to the experiment also reflect other functions and institutions in the particular society.
For example, the experiment is a way of stressing the significance of bonds formed in peer groups, family units, and organizations. While performing the experiment, it can’t be avoided to encounter students one of the members is already acquainted with (classmate, block-mate, org-mate, etc.). These particular individuals were either not targeted as a participant or followed instead by members in the group whom they don’t know or are close to. This was done for the preservation of the “stranger” aspect of the experiment.
Elements of social class can also be observed through the experiment. The Ateneo is labeled as a “school of the rich” and it is considerably true. Given that, an analysis of outlooks on personal space can be given. Most students travel by a private-owned car to school, a fact that may amount to giving higher importance to personal space, compared to, for instance, someone from the lower class who travels to work via the heavily crowded LRT daily.
Examining the overall experiment, some insights were generated among the group. For one, the reactions loosely followed a pattern of initially finding the deviant act unusual, followed variably by cluelessness or attempts to normalize the situation. In the first instance, debriefing produced a visible relief out of the participant and in the second, a sense of “I knew it all along” or “I had a feeling it was for a project.” Second, being on the performing end of a deviant act makes the act easier to accept and un-label as deviant – as in the case of the experimenters. Applying this in deviants of a larger population, their side of reasoning becomes less unclear (not necessarily clearer) due to the possibility that they do not see their acts as deviant anymore.


BREACHING EXPERIMENT by BAMF (Avila, Espartinez, Khoo, C Mendoza, Ouyang, Reyes)