Can We Give An Opinion? - A Breaching Experiment

Bea Nenotchka Cortes

Ma. Angelica Gutierrez

Izen Sinfuego Lao

Alyanna Nicole Publico

Winonah Camille Siy

SA 21 B

Breaching Experiment

Watch the reactions of some of our targets here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKmeNIzcUsE&feature=youtu.be

Question 1

From our early childhood years, our parents and other authoritative figures, especially our teachers and school administrators, have constantly taught the students to consciously mind their words and to keep thoughts and opinions to themselves because this shows respect to those individuals. The old adages have said that having nothing good to say, one should rather share nothing at all. Thinking through this piece of advice, we considered deviating from the common notion that when we or other individuals see strangers, we cannot give them our personal comments or our thoughts about their outfits. People usually avoid voicing out their opinions, especially those negative ones, since this would alarm others and cause disturbance. We chose deviating from these norms because we acknowledged that nowadays, members of society have been placing a more heavy emphasis on the way they presented themselves toward the public. Moreover, the clothes they have chosen to wear reveal much about the image they want to project. We thought it would also be interesting to gauge their reactions to strangers (we researchers) who would present them with unsolicited fashion advice.

Question 2

            At moments when vanity and self image are important and highly regarded, we decided to obtain the reactions of strangers when other strangers (we researchers) gave them negative comments about their clothing choices, for our breaching experiment. We chose this experiment because we wanted to document their reactions when another stranger (we researchers) would comment about something possibly important to them – their outward appearance and images. We decided on doing the experiment in Trinoma and Landmark because we observed that there were several kinds of people shopping or lounging around these malls. Since Trinoma housed numerous stores and entertainment facilities (Timezone or Astrovision), from those selling high end products (Debenhams/ Chariol/ Charles and Keith/ Lacoste) to those having more affordable options (Bench/ Penshoppe/ Human/ Cotton On), we could easily obtain numerous respondents from different age brackets and socioeconomic backgrounds. We performed the experiment on a Saturday because there were no classes and because most people frequented malls during the weekends.

            We began our experiment on the second floor stores in Trinoma, which housed the more expensive establishments, before proceeding to the first floor where the more affordable stores could be located. More people stayed inside the first floor probably because there was an event Trinoma hosted. Another observation was that more families with nannies shopped inside the second floor and the clothing options of those second floor shoppers were more formal compared to those lounging around the first floor. To illustrate, the most men we encountered inside the second floor wore polo shirts, black shoes and pants while most men we encountered inside the first floor wore shorts and baseball caps. However, these observations were not exclusive/ rigid, meaning some jejemon people were found lounging inside the second floor while some more put together individuals were found lounging inside the first floor.

            This was the general rhythm for our experiment. We would situate ourselves in certain areas we noticed more people frequented (outside particular establishments) and wait for random passers–by. Three groupmates would setup our documentation devices (cellphone video cameras and notebooks) and remain at relatively larger distances from the other two speakers to record their confrontations on video and gather notes about the reactions from the respondents as well as the other individuals in their immediate surroundings (these include salespeople) who might react toward our breaching experiment. The three groupmates remained farther away to pretend they were simply chatting amongst themselves or playing cellphone games or checking out the products sold inside certain stores. The two other groupmates would lookout for possible targets and would be ready to advance toward them and confront them with their negative opinions. We chose target respondents generally randomly, provided that they were either teenagers ranging to individuals around their late thirties. This meant we would approach anyone we saw or anyone standing near us. However, we also considered their body language when approaching them (which presents that even we researchers were affected during the experiment). We were more afraid of approaching those walking hastily because they might have been busy. We were also more conscious and afraid of approaching the respondents in groups (with their friends/ families). As soon as another respondent was selected, the designated persons would approach them and mention, “Hello po, could we give you an opinion?” If these respondents stopped walking and agreed, we would tell them, “Hindi po kasi bagay ang suot ninyong pantaas sa maong ninyo,” or give comments like, “Masyadong colorful or masyadong maitim or masyadong mapula po and suot ninyo.” Some respondents that were approached just continued walking, with some excusing themselves by stating that they were attending meetings or they had important errands or they were going to be late for their flights. Others continued walking without minding us.

            Immediately after the other two groupmates provided their negative comments to the respondents, the other three members taking notes and video footages would move towards those respondents and debrief them. They would divulge that what occurred was simply a sociological experiment. They would explain that the comments given were scripted and that our group just needed to obtain their reactions when such comments were thrown towards them from random strangers. We finally asked whether or not they would grant us permission to use the videos we secretly documented for our class presentation. Afterwards, we would slightly shift our location and find another target respondent.

Question 3     

            Some observations we recounted before beginning our breaching experiment was upon entering the Trinoma mall entrance, our groupmates noticed that numerous people, regardless of their ages, genders, socioeconomic positions and religions, accessed Trinoma and the Landmark through common designated entrances. The common entrances were where people from different backgrounds – statuses, socioeconomic classes, genders and religions intermingled. Numerous people walked through those doors thus we generally targeted establishments and hallways near them. During our experiment, we noticed that salespeople would stare at us (particularly those holding the cellphone cameras) and whisper amongst themselves. Our first attempt particularly was most unnerving. We were still adjusting ourselves into our surroundings and ironing out the details regarding our planed methods, like how we would position ourselves to obtain decent videos and how we would hide our cellphone voice recorders. Some groupmates gathered near Sunnies (sunglass kiosk) and positioned themselves for taking videos and notes. Others were spread out nervously around Sunnies, which perhaps caught the suspicion of their salespeople, who left presumably to call their security personnel. Recognizing their expressions of mistrust, we automatically switched onto another location.

            At another location, we situated ourselves around the kiosk selling some personal hygiene products. The salesperson manning the booth noticed our group capturing videos and blatantly asked us what the videos were for. After giving our explanation about the breaching experiment, she simply nodded her head and allowed us to continue. Although we might have aroused the suspicion of several salespeople, they never attempted to take a course of action against us. Going into our breaching experiment, the reactions of those targeted respondents are as follows: Some people continued walking without stopping, from the time we called their attentions until when we stopped pursuing them. They walked hastily and waved their hands to indicate their disinterest in whatever we were going to mention. Some people shook their heads or rolled their eyes, showing their disappointment about us approaching them. Some stopped and listened to our first remark (whether or not we could make an opinion about them), however they continued walking and shooed us away upon hearing our question. Some were more courteous and made excuses (going to meetings/ doing urgent errands/ having little time before their flights) while others stopped and agreed to our first remark (whether or not we could make an opinion about them), but immediately walked on when we criticized them. We pursued these people because we feared our comments might have affected them, but they continued walking hastily despite our explanations (presumably they were mad because they quickened their pace after hearing our comments). Some however, listened to our explanations.

            For those who stopped long enough to listen to our comments, we have observed most of their reactions as expressions of shock and disbelief (presumably because another stranger mentioned to them they made poor clothing choices). Males and females general had similar reactions, however we noticed that people from different age brackets have different reactions compared to one another. Those belonging to the teenagers and early twenties bracket generally had reactions of concern and self consciousness upon hearing our remarks. They looked around and checked if there were others listening when we made our comments, afterwards most looked at their outfits while some even nodded and agreed to our opinions. Those belonging to the late twenties and late thirties bracket generally had reactions of aggression and disappointment upon hearing our comments. They were more confident about their outfits and did not look concerned about our remarks. Some were startled because of our comment but the quickly gathered their composure and told us that they really did not mind their clothing and were more focused on other things (doing errands or buying other things or going to the gym). People from presumably different socioeconomic backgrounds (first floor and second floor respondents) had different reactions towards our comments too.

            Those shopping inside the second floor were more aggressive and angry towards our remarks while those shopping inside the first floor were more accepting and passive. An instance was when a wealthy mother (carrying designer handbag) together with her daughter and another mother with her daughter were shopping around the second floor. Upon hearing our remarks, she became flustered then became immensely angry. When we approached her to debrief her about our experiment, she asked us twice which school we came from. Her voice sounded very aggressive and determined, thus we answered we were from Ateneo. She threatened to sue our school upon hearing this and stormed away with her head held high. The people she was with, particularly the other mother had the same reaction despite us not approaching her. Two jejemon people (wearing large black baseball cap with colorful logos, loose tank tops and shorts) in the second floor (presumably they were just passing by and not intending to shop since they walked briskly) gave us a bad sign and walked away with their heads held high. After sometime, they came back and commented to us, “Miss pwedeng magcomment? Ang pangit mo!” then laughed before walking away. Those shopping inside the first floor simply nodded their heads when we commented. Some agreed and acknowledged that they did not dress appropriately. Some just smiled and continued walking while others (particularly women) clutched their bags more firmly and acknowledged our comments.

            Individuals in groups and individuals walking alone had significantly different reactions too. Individuals who had companions became more self conscious thus more aggressive when we tried giving them our comments. This was noticeable when the wealthy mother and her companions and the jejemon people had more violent reactions. Another group of teenagers we approached had similar reactions. The person we approached looked toward her companions and was considerably self conscious (looking at her outfit and shying away from her group). After feeling this, her friends were supportive (holding her) thus she looked onto us with disgust, but she was more courteous after recovering her composure and she just nodded afterwards. People who were alone were more indifferent of our comments, probably because they knew we were strangers and nobody would hear our comments. Most just nodded and proceeded.

            Upon hearing our explanations regarding the breaching experiment and our goals about this, most people responded with comments like “ahh/ohh/kaya pala.” Particularly, a woman or around early twenties shopping inside the second floor responded “ahh okay, kasi ang weird nga bakit may magtatanong nun?” Most people in groups felt better upon hearing our explanation, some breathed a sigh of relief while others started laughing and smiling. Again, those walking alone were more indifferent and most simply smiled and continued walking. We also noticed that generally, males were more indifferent than females upon hearing our explanations. Most females reacted with smiles and sighs while males had serious faces and just nodded. Some respondents (both male and female) have commented that they are not conscious about their outfits and appearances because they have more important things to do. A woman explained that she did not want wearing bright colors “para hindi mapansin ng mga tao” thus she wore all black because her attire came from fundraising efforts for the Yolanda victims.

            Finishing the experiment, we noticed that we received harsh stares from people in our surroundings (those who overheard about our breaching experiment or those who witnessed us approaching our respondents). We noticed that we were able to easily get the attentions of those shopping inside the second floor because only few people were there. Most people here had more expressions of shock or disbelief and other negative reactions such as threatening to sue Ateneo or giving us bad signs (raising the middle finger). People inside the second floor were reluctant to share their videos and their reactions upon knowing about our experiment were of annoyance and disappointment. Meanwhile, people inside the first floor were more difficult to approach since the environment was noisy (our experiment bean in the second floor during the afternoon and moved into the first floor during late afternoon) presumably because there were more mall goers during the late afternoon. Most people were more self conscious about their attire and accepted our criticism mildly (they nodded and said okay). Most were also more willing to share their videos compared to those inside the second floor. 

            Males had more indifferent reactions because they were less conscious about their attire. However some males, particularly those jejemon people, were over conscious about their attire and became defensive when we criticized their outfits. Their being defensive could be seen when they gave the bad sign (raised middle finger) and even returned to tell our groupmate she was ugly. The women generally reacted because they were more conscious about their outfits. Some were not very conscious because they preferred something (comfort) over their appearance. However, upon hearing our explanations, most smiled and nodded in acceptance (except for the mother who threatened to sue us). The wealthy were more supposedly more confident about their attire since they knew they bought these articles from expensive stores. However, their reactions show otherwise since they got really mad despite our explanations. They might have reacted this way because they felt more threatened since they spent more money buying their outfits and preparing themselves. Their image might be associated with business, since most looked more formal and prestigious, thus they felt their businesses or professions were also threatened when we threatened them through our comments. The middle class were more accepting of our comments, they were more level headed and kept their composure throughout the conversation. Upon hearing our explanation, they were more at ease and easily brushed our comments aside. They might have reacted this way because they were not arrogant or over confident about their image. They were more accepting because they did not have the power to show aggression and other reactions. Power means socioeconomic power since the wealthy and fortunate have more power and technically more right to assert their power.

            Those in groups were more aggressive than the individuals we approached since they were more conscious about their appearance in front of their peers. Individuals were indifferent in many of our encounters because nobody would hear our conversations and we were both strangers to each other (they were strangers to us and we were strangers to them). People in groups might be more conscious because they fear their peers judging them and commenting to them that they agreed with our comment when we approached them. They fear being looked down upon by their friends and their families (in families we refer to the children looking down upon their parents) thus they feel less secure probably compared to when they are alone. This was most prominent in the jejemon people and the mother who threatened to sue us. They felt insecure upon hearing our comments since they were with their peers (peers are people with the same backgrounds–either socioeconomic or religious backgrounds). Since peers share with the backgrounds of our respondents, they feel threatened because these individuals have more power to judge them. Therefore they cover their insecurities with threats and jokes. 

            Overall, the deviant experiment reaffirms our claim about society generally not voicing out their honest opinions about others. When we did our breaching experiment, the reaction we got was of shock and disbelief, across everybody from any socioeconomic background. Since this was the case, we concluded that they were taken aback from our comments since they did not expect strangers to comment this to them.

Question 4

Gender

            It was observed that, in general, males were more comfortable with being criticized compared to females. Men normally nodded and exclaimed okay. Women meanwhile, would be more conscious and give various reactions: some would show unhappiness, sometimes this would lead to anger towards our groupmates. Some would fix their clothes while they were still talking to us. It seems that the pressure of looking good is greater on females than males. This notion is evident in the larger concentration of the fashion and makeup industry towards women healthcare and beauty products. The presence of television shows that emphasize female aesthetics like the Next Top Model franchise, show how ingrained it is in society for women to look their best at all times, especially while within the public eye.

Socioeconomic Backgrounds

            We have noticed that as previously mentioned, people of higher socioeconomic standing feel more power and right to show aggression and disappointment when others make comments to them. They feel more right because their wealth and social status gave them their prestige. This is affirmed in society when the fortunate have the capacity to hire nannies to clean up for them. This is also affirmed in the workplace when the secretaries and assistants should normally agree to the wishes of their bosses even if these wishes were just to get coffee or newspaper.

Age Brackets (Teenagers to Early Twenties and Late Twenties to Lat Thirties)

            Age plays important roles in both the respondents we approached and us researchers. Personally the researchers were more comfortable approaching the younger age bracket than the older age bracket. This would be because we personally felt more conscious in approaching the older brackets since we felt intimidated and not respectable enough to approach them. For the respondents, as mentioned above, we felt age brackets helped them gain more confidence when dealing with others. The older bracket had more composure and were more confident in accepting our comments while the younger bracket were more insecure and kept looking at themselves or fixing themselves while we were talking.

Groups and Individuals

            Again people in groups were more insecure and self conscious. It seems that they felt embarrassed to be given criticism in front of their companies. Their consciousness made them voice out threats to us during our conversation. People walking individually were more indifferent because nobody would hear our conversation and because they were talking to strangers. This was affirmed.

Question 5

• Odd and scared

·         Based on the patterns of how people react when they are criticized and shamed in front of a crowd, a person will appear to either brush off the criticism or become defensive. Being embarrassed causes one to feel awkward or annoyed, which when amplified results to a violent reaction.

·         Because our group looked suspicious, we were afraid we would be reprimanded by security guards or be mistaken as a group of syndicates.

• Regretful
• After the alarming reaction of the mom who glared, raised her voice, and threatened to sue us, we felt scared and hesitant to continue with this experiment. We were starting to consider other possible breaching experiments that would not earn us such a great degree of ire from the people who would be involved.
• Happy
• Even though some acted in an unpleasant manner, we got a broad spectrum of results, starting from a guy who gave us “the finger,” the woman who threatened to sue us, the family who just passed by, and the woman who said it was okay and asked if she looked beautiful on her captured video.

• Ashamed
• Although the comments we gave were not genuine, we felt a sort of guilt after every encounter because we saw how people looked unhappy after we criticized them. Add to that the refusal of some to listen to our explanations. It felt wrong to make people feel bad about themselves which, psychologically speaking, can lead to excessive self-consciousness and lower self-esteem.

• Thrilled and excited (at first)
• There was excitement bubbling inside us at the beginning because we did not know exactly what would happen. We were eager to experience firsthand the reactions of people to the oddity we had planned. We had heard accounts of breaching experiments conducted before and we were curious as to whether or not our results would be similar to those gathered by other students.