Group 2: Tacobelles
SA21 - Q
1) What norm did you violate?
For our breaching experiment, the norm that we violated was paying compliments to strangers in a mall. People do not usually approach strangers in public places and give them compliments. In the first place, people do not really approach strangers. Unless, of course, if they are just asking for directions or if they are working (in this case, in the mall) and are selling something. In a mall, people are constantly moving about and minding their own business.
2) Describe the breaching experiment in detail. What was the activity? Where did you do it?
What we did was get two of our group members to go up to random people as they pass by and tell them things like “Hey, you look good today!” and “Ate/Kuya, ang ganda/gwapo niyo po!”
We did the experiment in different areas in Gateway Mall. We first did it in front of Taco Bell. After complimenting a few people, we transferred to the area in front of Esprit and Bench wherein people were streaming in from both directions.
3) What were the different reactions of the people? List all possible reactions you observed. Why do you think they reacted this way? What caused these reactions? Did the deviant act re-affirm/reinforce the existing norms based on these reactions?
· They were shocked.
It is not common for strangers to randomly compliment you in a way that would not be considered catcalling.
· Some just ignored our groupmates.
Those who ignored our groupmates were all males. Maybe the men thought that they were advertising/selling something or that they were catcalling (which is usually associated to women).
· Others said “Thank you”.
Many people were taught to accept compliments and show their appreciation. Maybe they were only being polite even though it was a stranger who gave them a compliment.
· Some of them kept on looking back at our groupmates.
The mere fact that some random pair of strangers complimented you is odd enough that people would wonder why that happened and ask themselves who we were, what we wanted. We probably became the curious objects of their day.
· A security guard was looking at us.
Acts that are not common such as that of our experiment could be seen as suspicious behaviour. Considering the different crime styles today, security personnel must be wary of possible operations.
4) Aside from the norms, what sociological themes are at play for people to react in a certain way? Is it a function of gender (gender norms, roles), social class (norms of the rich & the poor), values/beliefs of institutions (religion, family, peer group, etc.). [You could design the experiment based on these sociological themes. For example, you could compare reactions according to gender, social class, etc. That would more interesting--and might obtain a better grade! :)]
The reactions of the females were different from those of the males. The women thanked us while the men ignored us and kept on walking. According to [1]Wierzbicka, a compliment is usually tended to make others feel good and I think most of us can agree to that. In a study conducted in New Zealand, women received 74% of all compliments and only 26% for men. [2]Holmes tried to explain this, saying that men may give greater weight to a compliment’s referential meaning. Random women giving you a compliment in a public place could be catcalling- this can be a referential meaning. She also stated that women may regard compliments as “primarily positive speech acts”.
We found a [3]video online wherein the user and her friends did a similar experiment (also for their Sociology class). What they did was they went to a store bringing a camera and complimented to almost every person they passed by. Most of the people received their compliments though one person avoided them, seeing that they had a camera with them.
These are some of the differences between our group’s experiment and the one in the video:
· In their experiment, the proponents were more confident in complimenting people.
· They received various replies; we only received “thank you’s”.
· The people who were complimented in the video seemed more positive compared to the people we complimented.
Many of us usually view the Westerners as “liberated”. The group thinks that Westerners are more open to things like strangers giving compliments and such. There is really a difference between our culture and theirs.
5) How did you feel when you did this experiment? How does it feel to deviate from the norms? Were you hesitant to do the activity?
We felt very uncomfortable doing the activity. It was very hard for us to start with the breaching experiment and we had to consider different things like where to do it, what our approach will be, what we will say, and how we were going to document the whole thing without being noticed, not just by the people whom we’ll be giving compliments to, but also by the authority (they might hinder us from doing the experiment).
It was embarrassing enough to approach people we did not know; moreover, we had to compliment them. That feeling may have come from the uncertainty of the reactions we might get from those people we were to compliment. You can also see in our video that after a person is given a compliment and walks along, our group members exhibited different reactions depending on how the people responded. They got embarrassed, excited, disappointed and they also felt awkward.
6) Other observations and analysis that you may have on the activity and on deviance in general.
In this experiment, it was not only uncomfortable for the “targets” but for the proponents, as well. When we were young, our parents always told us not to talk to strangers but that was for safety reasons. After doing the experiment, we realized that it really is odd to talk to strangers. We were also able to prove that there is really a norm that exists (in the Philippine society, at least) as regards to approaching strangers and talking to them, giving them compliments to be more specific. We were able to witness how people react when this norm is violated.
Norms are there to regulate the society. Deviating from the norm could cause misunderstandings and serious troubles. That is why the group had a difficult time doing the experiment. If not for this class, we probably would have never done what we did.
References:
http://aggslanguage.wordpress.com/gender-interaction-theory-%E2%80%93-holmes-tannen-cameron-defrancisco/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgRcPRPJgHM
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