Stargazing During the Day

Adaza, Nikki          February 24, 2015

Dee Tan, Ivan          SA 21, Section E

Dela Cuesta, Michelle        

Guillermo, Celine

Stargazing During the Day

BREACHING EXPERIMENT REPORT:

1. What norm did you violate?

We intended to look at the implications of conformity and how people comply with standards, rules, and laws. In this case, we looked at how the behavior of a certain group of people affected and influenced the behavior and actions of those around them. We also intended to deviate from the norm of being able to only do certain activities at certain times of the day.

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

The breaching experiment we did was stargazing during the daytime. In the middle of the hustle and bustle of the area we chose for the activity, we created a picnic setup complete with a blanket, etc. We then pretended to be stargazing (pointing to the “sky”, shouting out constellations, laughing) to catch the people’ attention, as we exclaim out loud the constellations and stars that we ‘see.’ We also wore summer clothes (shades, shorts, sleeveless) to complete the confusing feel and effect of the activity (stargazing during the daytime during summer). In addition, we made makeshift binoculars through rolled papers. This was done in two setups -- one that catered to the masses or the “poor” area, and one that catered to the high-end people or the “rich” area. For the poor area, we did it at the LRT station shed, and the rich area at UP Town Center.

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?

Experiment Done in UP Town Center

Experiment Done at the LRT Station

The different reactions we observed at the LRT Station and UP Town Center were the following:

• Quick glances
• Reasons and causes: They are rushing towards work or they do not want to stare.
• Double takes, Lingering stares, Confused faces
• Reason and causes: They seem to be interested and curious, or trying to make sense on what is happening.
• Laughing and pointing at us
• Reason and causes: They found us probably crazy or ‘high.’
• Looking where we are pointing at
• Reason and causes: They are curious about what we are looking at.
• Irritated looks
• Reason and causes: It was early in the morning and they may have a lot of things to worry about.

Same reactions were seen for both in the LRT station and at UP Town Center. As such, there is no significant difference for the two. However, the people in UP Town Center seem to be more serious, while those in the LRT station are more amused in a way. Authorities in UP Town Center are also more strict as as there is a need to ask permission to conduct an experiment there.

Based on these reactions, we believe that we reaffirmed the act of deviance of the norm of conformity and how people comply with standards, rules, and laws. The reactions highlighted the deviant nature, how the ‘stargazing during the day’ activity aroused the interest, confusion and even irritation in the group of people we observed.

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 and the poor), values/beliefs of institutions (religion, family, peer group, etc.) [You could compare reactions according to gender, social class, etc.].

Aside from norms, religion can also affect how people react and view certain situations especially if it involves their faith and beliefs. A Muslim person who is deeply rooted in his/her faith and is considered traditional will probably react or even feel offended if he/she sees a woman who dresses provocatively compared to how a Christian or an atheist would react because they Muslim women are usually covered from head to toe.

The same scenario can also be connected to the family, culture, or how a person is raised. If he/she is raised in a conservative family that values modesty and chastity, that person may react more negatively compared to a person raised in a liberated family.

Gender can also determine how a person acts when faced with certain situations. Here in our experiment, men tend to be more amused, or show their amusement more, than women. This is probably because men tend to be more visual than women, and they often evidently share the amusing things that they see to their friends. Women, on the other hand, they are the ones who almost always give irritated glances. They are mostly focused on their day ahead, or maybe women have more expressive faces.

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?

At first, we felt embarrassed because we know that people would look at us when we did this experiment. In the first few minutes, we already noticed a lot of people looking at us. But at the end, we felt more comfortable doing the activity because the people’s reactions are starting to get amusing. As such, we started to push ourselves further, and made makeshift binoculars, highlighting the deviant nature of our activity.

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

Two aspects of Philippine culture are seen:

First, is the ‘usisero nature of the Filipinos. There is a need to know, or really tend to make a spectacle of things. Like if there is a fire or a traffic accident, Filipinos tend to crowd more closely to the scene of interest even if there is no point or even if they have other things to do.

On the other hand, Philippine culture also depicts the value of not staring at people. Filipinos find it rude to blatantly stare at people thus people tend to just ignore occurrences deemed “private” or “personal”.

Despite the contrast between the natural “usisero” attitude of Filipinos and the norm that people should not stare at others, people find it difficult to not take notice of the unusual activity our group conducted. They tried to satisfy their curiosity without making a scene by only taking quick glances or looking from afar.

In our analysis about the different reactions between people in high end places and those in the ‘masa’ places, there is no significant difference. However, people from high end places tend to be more serious in a way in cases of deviance. They have a behaved attitude in which they are more socialized into norms, as they continue to retain a certain image of conformity and order.