Carlos, David, Go, Rabago, Sin, Tambaoan

SA21 - C

SA21 Breaching Experiment: “Barya lang po sa Umaga”

Part I. Norm

The norm we violated was the “barya lang po sa umaga” concept. When one rides a tricycle it is often understood that the fare would range from around fifteen to thirty pesos. Being so, passengers and tricycle drivers are accustomed to dealing with denominations which are relatively close to these amounts (e.g., 20 peso bills, 50 peso bills, coins). This is the social expectation in this situation, that we the passengers would present payments which would be reasonable enough for the tricycle driver to deal with. Instead, we presented considerably large bills to them such as 500 peso bills in order to test how they would respond to the violation of the said norm.

Part II. Description of the Breaching Experiment

The breaching experiment was performed across multiple locations by different people in order to cover a wider scope of factors. Each experimenter would step inside a tricycle and travel to a predetermined location. Upon arriving at the destination, the experimenter would pull out a 500 peso bill from his or her wallet and offer it to the tricycle driver to see how he would react. The observer would then take note of these reactions and record them later on. After it becomes apparent that the conversation is not going anywhere the experimenter would then present a more reasonable amount of money for the tricycle driver to deal with. At this point he or she would also attempt to explain to the tricycle driver that this was a social experiment. Afterwards, the experimenter would travel a reasonable distance to find another tricycle driver who was oblivious to the experiment conducted on the previous tricycle driver. The process would then be repeated at least three times. It was done in varying locations in order to factor in the social expectations of the tricycle drivers. One location was Maginhawa which we deemed to be “average” with a primarily middle class population. Another area was along Katipunan which we considered as a high-to-middle-class spot. It was also conducted along Holy Spirit Drive, which we deemed to be middle class, and inside one of the villages there which we deemed to high class. Another location was outside Sandiganbayan which can be considered low class because of the informal settlers nearby.

Part III. Results and Analysis

Observations - Gabe

• Maginhawa (average)
• Mainly middle to lower class population

Subject A: Charged 15, Gave 500

• Surprised, shy and embarrassed to impose
• Did not take the 500 peso bill
• Waits for me to offer some solution
• “Ay wala po sir”
• “Wala talaga”
• Did not really understand when I explained it was a social experiment

Subject B: Charged 35, Gave 500

• No major reaction, quietly complies
• Did not take the 500 peso bill
• Opens up pouch to check if he has enough change
• Finds out his change isn’t enough
• “Wala po ba kayong barya sir?”
• Did not really understand when I explained it was a social experiment

Subject C: Charged 18, Gave 500

• Surprised and amused
• Immediately says he doesn’t have change
• Did not take the 500 peso bill
• Waits for me to offer some solution
• “Ay wala po talaga”
• “Wala talaga”
• Told him it was a social experiment
• Explained how he recently sent money through M Lhuillier
• “Pero hindi naman talaga ako magagalit”

Observations - Giulia

• Eliazo Hall - One Burgundy Place Condominium along Katipunan (high-middle)

Subject A: Charged 25, Gave 500

• Smiled and said nothing
• Did not take the 500 Peso bill
• Did not even look for change and laughed
• Just waited for me to figure out what to do
• Shook his head when I ask if he had change
• Smiles but looks like he’s on the brink of irritation because his face twitched to a frown
• Smiled when I explained it was for a school project
• Smiled for a photo and seemed relieved I had change/exact paymentc

Subject B: Charged 25, Gave 500

• Shook his head, mumbled and smiled
• Did not take the 500 Peso bill
• Checked his pockets to show he had nothing or maybe not enough change if ever
• Waited for me to figure things out
• Smiled and said he didn’t have change when I asked
• Softly laughed when I said it was for a school project and gave him change/exact payment

Subject C: Charged 25, Gave 500

• Smiled and said he had no change
• Did not take the 500 Peso bill
• Asked if I had a smaller bill even a 100 Peso
• Told me to search my wallet deeper or ask my friend who was with me
• Laughed while I fumbled through my bag
• Smiled when I explained it was for a school project and finally gave him change/exact payment

https://www.dropbox.com/s/txzw3s0y1vkd524/MVI_7013%20(1).MOV?dl=0

Observations - Sofia

• Mcdo - Regis Center along Katipunan (with trips back and forth)

Subject A: Charged 25, Gave 1000

• gave a shy smile
• said that he really had no change by showing the wallet with no smaller bills
• when I offered a more reasonable amount of payment (100 php),he seemed a lot more relieved and initially gave me the bills without the coins necessary
• I left without asking for the remaining change, but he called my attention to return it.

Subject B: Charged 25, gave 1000

• looked shocked with me being serious about giving a thousand-peso bill
• shook his head saying he really had no cash
• asked the people I was with in the trike if they had change for me
• when I explained it was an experiment, he seemed rather annoyed

Subject C: Charged 25, gave 1000

• looked really apologetic when I handed him the thousand-peso bill
• He showed me that he had a 200-peso bill, but it wasn’t enough
• Once I explained it was a social experiment, he just nodded appearing a little bit confused.  

Observations - Cholo

• Holy Spirit Drive
• Outside Sandiganbayan

Subject A: Charged 30, Gave 500 (I went with a companion) (Middle-ish)

• I handed over the 500 peso bill

• Had a shocked look on his face
• Did not take the 500 peso bill
• Asked “Wala ho ba kayong barya?” in a nice way
• I asked if my companion had change
• Gave the money
• Explained it was a social experiment
• Driver just nodded
• I asked for a pic and the other trike drivers started teasing him

Subject B: Charged 25, Gave 500 (High End)

• I handed over the 500 peso bill
• Driver laughed quite loudly and smiled
• Asked “May barya po ba kayo?” in a nice way
• I asked how much and got the money from my pocket
• Explained it was a social experiment
• Driver kept smiling
• Driver seemed flattered and happy when I asked for a pic

Subject C: Charged 25, Gave 500 (Low End)

• I handed over the 500 peso bill
• Driver had a confused look on his face
• Asked “Wala po bang barya?” nicely
• Checked my pockets and gave the money
• Explained it was a social experiment
• Driver started smiling
• No pic cause no one was around and I didn’t wanna take a selfie HAHA

The breaching experiment was conducted by four different people across three different locations namely, Maginhawa, Katipunan and Holy Spirit Drive/Sandiganbayan. One of the factors which affected how the tricycle drivers reacted was where we asked them to go to. For example, for the high class neighborhood, the residents there are expected to be well-off so the tricycle driver for that destination simply laughed when the 500 peso bill was handed over. He was more amused than surprised since it seemed believable that someone from this neighborhood would hand over denominations like this. On the other hand, one of the drivers from the “low end” areas seemed quite confused since you wouldn’t expect someone from that neighborhood to pay with a denomination that big.

Another thing that we can factor in is how the rider himself/herself looked like. Since we were dressed quite well and did not go out in just a sando and shorts, the driver might have thought that it made sense for someone like that to hand over a 500 peso bill. If we were dressed less formally, then the driver might have thought that we were just messing with him by handing over such a huge bill.

Generally, the tricycle drivers all reacted in a similar fashion. They were all surprised but maintained a polite outlook even to the point of referring to us passengers using “po” even if we proved to be a nuisance. Their job was to bring us to our desired location while our job was to pay them for their service. But because we “did not” have change, it seemed as if we would be unable to pay them the money they earned. At this point, we had a liability to them because we had yet to pay them for the service they had already rendered. However, it seemed as if these tricycle drivers were reluctant to force us into paying what was due. In short, they reacted to our deviant behavior by further reinforcing another norm which can be summed up by the saying “the customer is always right.”

Part IV. Sociological Themes in Breaching Experiment (Social Class, Gender, etc.)

In this breaching experiment the most noticeable sociological theme present is the element of social class. That is what the experimenters tried to factor in by designing the experiment in such a way that they covered locations wherein different social classes are represented, from the lower classes, middle, and upper classes. Given this come certain expectations on the part of the tricycle drivers, as they would probably have an idea of the kind of payments their regular passengers would be giving them for the service that they render. Perhaps those that are situated in a high-end location would be more accustomed to handling people of higher social class, thus more used to dealing with bigger bills, than those who are not and vice versa. This is something the experimenters kept in mind when designing the breaching experiment.

Another element that the experimenters took interest in is the mode of transportation available in each of the locations. Generally for the locations that the experimenters visited, the most common mode of transportation were private vehicles, jeepneys, and tricycles. Most of the upper class will not even use public transportation which explains the abundance of private vehicles. Regular commuters would make use of the jeepneys to get around, just like everywhere else in the country. Tricycles are utilized mostly by people who are unfamiliar with a certain place, those who are in a rush, or by those who can afford the marginally more expensive fare as opposed to jeepneys. There is some expectation on the part of the tricycle drivers that their passengers would have the capacity to pay their fares, but of course to rule out the problem of not being able to give ample change they have signages that say “barya lang sa umaga” to discourage passengers from paying large bills. Inasmuch as the fare tricycles charge are only slightly higher, only as much as PhP12 to Php22 pesos higher than a jeepney, these will not reach the range of PhP500 to PhP1,000.

        Another sociological theme we tried to factor in was how gender may have affected the outcome of the breaching experiment. The experimenters wanted to find out if the reactions of the tricycle drivers would be any different if it were a male or female that deviated from the norm. The initial assumption is that the trike drivers, who were generally male, would be more lenient in their reaction to the female experimenters as opposed to the male experimenters. But as seen in the reactions that the experimenters got, gender was not so much an issue because their treatment to each experimenter was the same regardless of gender. Perhaps this observation is still questionable to an extent, because in the experiment the variables of gender and social class were not changed at the same time. There was a one experimenter to one location designation, so this is something that can still be configured and tested on in future experiments of this nature.

Part V. Reflection

Having been used to taking tricycles, the main structure of the breaching experiment did not really seem to worry me too much. Although because we were going to incorporate deviant behavior into this everyday activity, I felt apprehensive every time we would be nearing our destination. I knew that they wouldn’t have enough change to deal with the 500 peso bill I would be forcing them to deal with but at the same time I wasn’t sure about how they would react. I’ve always had this notion of tricycle drivers being very loud and masculine so I sort of expected them to grumble at me. Surprisingly however it turned out that even those who seemed to appear like that were still polite enough to wait for me to decide on what to do. That’s something I honestly did not expect, but it’s nice to know that there are really nice people out there. (Gabe)

Being a little bit accustomed to taking trike rides around Katipunan, I didn’t feel nervous doing the experiment. In fact, I made sure that my social class would make an impact to the trike driver’s reaction by dressing stereotypically “conyo” and speaking with the accent as well. It was personally amusing for me, but after witnessing the trike drivers’ reactions, I felt a bit sorry for taking their time. Most of them would shake their head in annoyance or perhaps, due to their surprise by my apparent ignorance with the situation. Keeping this in mind, I figured that if ever a person were really to hand out such a bill, they would possibly be offended by the trike drivers’ responses. (Sofia)

I was hesitant to do the experiment at first since I was scared that the driver might get mad at me for handing over such a huge bill. In the low class neighborhood, I was actually scared that he might curse at me. While in the tricycle, I got more nervous as we got closer to the destination. It didn’t feel nice deviating from the norm since I actually wasted some of the tricycle driver’s time in “trying” to look for change. (Cholo)

It wasn’t such a great feeling having to watch the driver suffer in suspense to see if I actually had change during the experiment. The driver’s money spent on the gas and time used for the ride would have been for nothing and would have been a huge waste if I wasn’t actually going to be able to pay up. I, in general, don’t like troubling anyone especially people who have jobs that are so dependent on time so I wasn’t exactly ecstatic to do the experiment. I wasn’t that hesitant either though knowing that it was just an experiment. However, I still felt pretty bad having to force the driver to deal with my very limited Tagalog vocabulary and knowledge on how to ride trikes and then that huge 500 Peso bill. I was surprised to still be responded to kindly even with all these factors that I could imagine would be very irritating to these busy people. I’m hoping it was because I smiled a lot and seemed genuinely unsure (because I genuinely was) about what was happening that the manong wasn’t too hard on me. I was so relieved to be able to leave the driver with a smile though and I respect them so much more because of the way they handled the entire situation. (Giulia)

Part VI. Other Observations and Analysis on Activity or Deviance (Summary)

In conducting the experiment, the group found it interesting to point out how each member felt uneasy knowing that they had to break a norm. It shows just how strong the concept of Social Control is in each of us. While there was no formal control to sanction us from deviating from the norm, there was a very strong objection from the self-control, and the informal controls. First from the self-control because each has internalized the norm of giving a small bill denomination when commuting, and because of this we have the very strong urge to conform to this. Second, each of the experimenters felt uneasy of conducting the experiment because they were scared of how the driver would react when they gave large bills to pay for their fares. Being Filipinos, growing up we were taught to follow rules, even those not formally put into law, and this is how great the social control is to us as individuals. We are made to understand that there are certain forms of behavior that we should not do, and upon doing deviant behavior we have our socially constructed conscience telling us that something is not right.

Aside from the strong urge to not break the norm, the group was also met with sanctions which further reinforces the norm in question. Upon showing the drivers a large bill denomination as payment we were given 2 distinct reactions. The first being laughter, and the second are frowns or looks of concern. Although not entirely polar, they have more or less the same effect on the experimenters who deviated from the norm. Further examination of these reactions are needed to understand how they help reinforce this specific norm. Of the two reactions the researchers were given the more obvious or expected one was that of frowning or a general look of disapproval. Since there is no law that would legally sanction the members for this deviant behavior they instead were given an informal sanction in the form of a simangot and a few paranigs about not having enough money for giving change. In a way this is a kind of shaming on the part of those who were paying large bills, this is the only way that the drivers can show that what they were doing is out of the ordinary without being too harsh or turning to legal authorities for the predicament that they were in. Despite the best efforts of the group members to explain and try to push for giving the large bill as payment, there really is nothing else that the driver could do. Here now it can be seen how the simangot is an action used to shame the group member for not doing what is expected out of him/her, especially since they had various signages saying Barya lang po sa umaga in the tricycles and even the stations where they are situated in. The second reaction is a less severe kind of shaming because instead of showing outright disapproval of the action, the driver found the act as something comedic in nature. The laughter then is a tool to shame the person into acting according to what is expected by society, which in this case was to give a payment that was at least manageable by the driver.

The experiment was able to give the group a better understanding of the tools and mechanisms that are made available by the structures in society in order to maintain social control and discourage deviance in behavior. From the personal “gut feeling” that they are doing something out of the ordinary, to the external reinforcers of the norm like the simangot and the laughter as a reaction to the deviant behavior. It was made more apparent how we are actually enculturated in such a way that we internalize these behaviors. As a reflection point we pose the question: If put in the situation of the tricycle driver, would we have reacted in the same way given the circumstance? The most probable answer would be yes, and this is largely because of the same reasons as to why the drivers found the behavior ridiculous to begin with. Society has us believing that certain actions are not normal and should not be done, hence the probability of us giving the same reaction is very high since we also come from the same culture, following the same norms, as these drivers.