SA21 B - Physical Abuse In Public Spaces [Breaching Experiment]

Jeffrey Amit Lorenzo Arceo Samantha Tangco Dae Yeon Kim 1. What norm did you violate?
The norm that we violated in our experiment is physical abuse in public spaces. On a regular day, it is not the norm to see two people outright arguing, shouting and hitting each other in public spaces. Also, the society nowadays has developed strong gender-related stereotypes, so we wanted to violate the norm that males are always the one who abuse females.  

2. Describe the breaching experiment in detail. What was the activity? Where did you do it?
The breaching experiment that we conducted was to test the reactions of bystanders in a public space(Regis Center) when someone is getting physically abused. What we did was we had a boy (Lorenzo Arceo) and a girl (Samantha Tangco) act as if they were fighting. Boy was shouting and grabbing Girl and even pushed her on to a chair. After a few hours, we repeated the experiment, but instead of the boy hitting the girl, we made the girl abuse the boy. We did the activity in Regis Center due to the high traffic of people who go in and out of the mentioned establishment.

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?
When the girl was the one abusing the boy, most of the people just stopped, stared and continued on their way. Others just walked away from the area, not wanting to be part of the ‘event’ since most people don’t want to be engaged with something that harms or bothers them. However, when the boy was hitting the girl, there were a few men who really tried to help the girl.

We believe that this was the reaction because in the Philippines, people would rather stay out of each other’s business. It’s not the same in the western culture wherein people are more outspoken about their opinions; therefore, if this was done in a western society, we would’ve expected more reactions.

We also think that our society views women as the “weaker” gender. So when women are being hurt by men, people tend to really take the initiative to help. However, when a boy is abused by a woman, the “weaker being”, nobody really feels the urgency to take action - just like in our experiment.

Based on the overall reactions in our experiment, the deviant act definitely reaffirmed the existing norms, specifically that people would just be bystanders and that men would be treated different from women when put in this specific situation.

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, social class, values/beliefs

We all felt that gender was a big factor to the outcome of our experiment, especially because people responded differently when the boy was hitting the girl and when the girl was hitting the boy. We hypothesized that because women are stereotyped as physically weaker than men, the crowd felt more urgency to help them. We also concluded that this could be a reason why everyone who helped the girl were men. Another possible factor at play here is that it is more heard of and usual for men to abuse women than the other way around. Therefore, helping the woman wasn’t too much of a deviant act as opposed to helping the man. Men also take pride in their “strength” and might have even gotten offended if helped.  

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?

Initially, we were really hesitant and even a bit afraid and embarrassed to do the task.  We were standing in Regis for around 30 minutes arguing about who would hit who before we actually built the courage to do what we had to. In fact, we even recorded a number of failed attempts, probably because we didn’t expect that actually deviating from or doing something outside of what was normal was that difficult.

After the experiment, we got the reactions we expected; however, we felt a bit disturbed. How could people not take action in such a terrible situation? Is that how strong norms are that most people would rather follow it than take action in an urgent situation?  Similar to rape culture and drug abuse, we believe that physical abuse is a topic that should be given more light. It was seen that people take it lightly and did not even react to it when they saw it happening in a public space. Many chose to just ignore it and in real life cases, this ignorance could result to extreme consequences.

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

Another factor that came into play would be the repercussion of the so-called Bystander Effect, which states that the presence of other people has a huge impact on the decision of people whether to help or not. It shows that there is a negative correlation between the number of people present and the likelihood of help. People are less likely to help when there are other people present. This concept may explain why some of the respondents didn’t bother to help the “victim” at all. Perhaps, they expected others to intervene, rather than bar the physical abuse themselves.
The group was disappointed with the results of the experiment, since most of people passing by were from Ateneo. As Ateneans, we are groomed to be socially aware of our surroundings and to be deviant of any unaccepted behaviors such as physical abuse. As the Team ADG twitter account would say “Being men and women for others has its risks because it means always being willing & ready to do what is right”.  However, the quote didn't surface during our breaching experiment?

SA 21 B – “Spoon and Fork Off”

SA 21 B – “Spoon and Fork Off”

Bianca Alva, Regina Deleste, Charles Flores, Keren-Happuch Murillo, Francis Tordecilla

What norm did you violate?

The norm that our group chose to violate and deviate from for this breaching experiment is the proper dining etiquette when eating in public areas.

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

For this experiment, we chose to eat at some eating areas in Katipunan with our bare hands and not with the use of the usual spoon and fork. There was no specific age group and audience required for this experiment. Lastly, we chose two locations to conduct the experiment: Jollibee Katipunan and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Regis Center, Katipunan.

What were the different reactions of 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?

In both settings, most reactions were just people looking at us then changed their focus maybe three to five seconds. The most obvious reason why they would be looking is because of the unusual place to do such action but then again, maybe because they are aware of the Filipino culture of eating with hands. People were just engrossed in what they’re doing and chose not to care about what we were doing, especially those who were in the second location.

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), or social class (norms of the rich & poor)?

Given the same reaction of just getting three-to-five-second stares, we think other themes at play in this experiment is the social class setting. We conducted this experiment in two eating areas in Katipunan. First is in Jollibee, a common fast food chain where at least middle class people go to eat. The other was in CBTL, a café that is suitable to a more professional class. More people in Jollibee seemed to give more reactions to the experiment being done compared to those who are in CBTL as they were preoccupied with gadgets and schoolwork, thus having much less interest in what other people are doing.

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?

As one of the people who was being videographed to do the experiment, it is nerve-wracking for me to do something that was not usual for me, especially that I’m not really used to eating with my hands (like I only did it around three times in my whole life). But as the experiment went on without getting much other reaction but looking, it was getting comfortable because I feel like I’m at my own home without anyone else caring what I was doing.

–Francis Tordecilla, one of the doers of the experiment

It was actually embarrassing at first to see my groupmate deviate from the norm. I'm not quite sure on what I might feel as I was not the one doing the experiment. However, I think that I would feel more embarrassed doing the experiment rather than just capturing it on camera.

–Charles Flores, one of the videographers of the experiment

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

Maybe the time setting when this experiment was conducted was a factor that affected this activity. This was conducted on Sunday noon but results may have differed when conducted during a weekday setting because of the number of people present.

[SA 21 L] Breaching Experiment: Awkward Elevator Rides by The Flower Rangers

Clarrie Cruz
Pauline Fong
Camille Garrido
Zoe Hukom
Kaela Leyretana
Lissa Salapantan

Video:

1. What norm did you violate?

• Personal space
• Not talking to strangers
• Remaining silent in elevators

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

Our experiment involved observing how people would react when strangers try to make small talk with them inside an elevator. The elevator we rode was in SM City Marikina, which we chose because of lower chances of people suspecting a social experiment, and in order to be able to interact with people of different age groups and socio-economic classes.

The first step was to ask for the consent of the elevator lady to stay on the elevator and take numerous rides. We did this by making friends with her. After this, we would first greet select elevator passengers in order to grab their attention, and then we ask them a conversation starter question based on what they seemed to be doing in the mall. Examples of conversation starters used are the following:

• “Ilang taon na po ang baby niyo?”
• “Nag grocery po kayo?”
• “You’re watching a movie?”
• “Magddinner po ba kayo?”
• “Pauwi na po kayo?”
• “Kakatapos lang po ba ng shift niyo?”

After starting the conversations, we just rode on with it by asking related follow up questions until the elevator riders got off.

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 reaffirm/ reinforce the existing norms based on these reactions?

Majority of the elevator riders at first seemed confused as to whom we were addressing with our greetings. This was often marked by them looking around them, and then looking at us with questioning faces. How their reactions differed was manifested after the often awkward starts.

• THE WHY’S MEN

These people answer our conversation starter questions with the question “why?” They are doubtful towards our intentions for asking them questions about their mall activity. Some of these people also questioned whether or not we needed any help. Some even assumed that there was an emergency or issue which caused us to ask questions to strangers.

A reason behind this reaction could be that people feel suspicious when strangers talk to them, and they think there must be some ulterior motive, or that there must be something wrong. The norm that we’re not supposed to talk to strangers, unless we need something from them, has already been internalized, which is why the violation of this norm usually results in the respondents being doubtful.

• THE SHY LONG BAOS

These people choose to look away or at the floor after realizing that we are trying to have conversation with them. These people also usually just nod their heads at attempts of conversations and are not responsive. This could probably mean that they’re not willing to give information about themselves to strangers, or maybe they simply didn’t know how to respond to a stranger suddenly making conversation with them, because it’s “unusual”.

• THE REFERRALS

The referrals are a subcategory of people under shy long baos. These people usually pass on the “responsibility” of responding to our conversation starters to whomever they were with. This behavior shows that they are interested in continuing the conversation, but they, themselves, are too shy to continue it themselves. This submissive behavior reflects how weaker people in society turn to people whom they deem as stronger for what they would do if only they felt more able.

• THE RIDE-Y TO MINGLES

These people ride on with the conversation and often seem happy to be engaged in the conversation.

Perhaps these people reacted this way because they were happy to witness unusual friendliness in people. These may also be the more confident and social people. We noticed that usually English-speaking passengers were the ones who were more comfortable with conversing with us. Despite speaking Filipino to others, they did not engage in conversation as smoothly as us. This may be related to the felt inferiority to higher socio-economic classes since most of us were dressed in “sosyal going out” clothes.

There are some groups or couples whom we conversed with, which were comprised of people from the different mentioned categories. For instance, for couples it was usually the male who carried on the conversations, or if the male would be shy, the female would be friendly enough to make up for the silence.

Other notable reactions include an old couple who kept on asking why. We rode with them from the top floor to the bottom floor of the parking, and ended up having to admit we were conducting a social experiment. Another would be this 5-year old male child who kept on asking his mom  who we were. On the way out the elevator, he even asked “are they your friends?” Such a reaction from a child  reinforces that the norm is to speak only with people whom you know personally.

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, social class, values/ beliefs of the institution?

We feel that a lot of factors are at play in this situation - gender and values more than the others - and each respondent may have different reasons for reacting the way they did. Males generally find it unusual and uncomfortable to do small talk compared to females, and the prospect of speaking about random things to younger people would be something categorized as “nonsense” for males. Females would entertain small talk more openly and were less awkward, but of course there were some exceptions like funny uncle figures and the like. In general, the belief that there should be ample personal space between strangers plays an important role in these interactions. Most parents tell their children not to talk to strangers because it may be innate in our norms and culture that anyone who does not reach a person’s level of familiarity is marked as potential danger. In this case, the outcome of our interaction would be based on how much “trusting” a person is to others, even with potentially shady people. People’s reactions may also be attributed to the group members’ overall appearance and disposition (i.e. clothing, language, temperament, etc.); if people deem the group members to look like strangers who are trustworthy and not “sketchy”, then their reaction to our random conversations would not be too skeptical and reserved.

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?

Norms are unsaid rules and patterns that are expected of a certain group of people. And so, when we thought of talking to strangers in elevators, we were very hesitant to do it at first but also excited at the same time. We were hesitant because talking to strangers is not something people would “normally” do, and it even took us a handful of failed attempts to even say anything in the elevators ourselves because of the fear of what people would think and how we would continue the conversation. However, we were also excited because we wanted to see how people would react to others violating these unsaid rules. After our first few successful attempts, it became easier to converse with the rest. After conducting the experiment, we were on happier moods because of all the small talks, and even felt friendlier.

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

Deviances may be uplifting, refreshing and liberating, but they are deviances for a reason. While it was an overall “happy” experience to be able to converse with an array of strangers in the elevator, it is also important to note that if this was a norm it could also be dangerous. Our small talk questions are questions which stalkers and other people with malicious intent may use to their advantage. While conversing in the elevator could be a medium to brighten up days and introduce openness to people of other walks of life, people generally choose not to go with this, because of the norm.

Thinking of it closely, the likeliness of people conversing for malicious intent is not as great as the uplifting opportunity of conversing with people we are stuck with in the elevator. However, because not conversing in the elevator is a norm, we follow it without even wondering why we do not, and we do not even wonder why we follow it, because we are not familiar with the good we can get out of breaking it. Perhaps it would be healthy for humanity to weigh to pros and cons of existing norms, and daring to break them for the better that may come out of it.

SA 21-B: RANDOM CLAPPING AT STRANGERS

SA 21-B

GROUP NAME: SureA 21

GROUP MEMBERS: Lance Derek Andallaza, Cherryl Comida, John Rey Eraga, Joshua Seth Guariña, Jevin Hung

1. What norm did you violate?

Our group deviated the norm of clapping on appropriate circumstances. Clapping is usually done as an appreciation, approval or enjoyment of something that has been done successfully. In our breaching experiment, we specifically deviated what we think are the important factors that are needed to be considered in clapping: to whom clapping is directed to, who are clapping, what was the action done and what is the nature of the event. In a sense we also violated the norm that indoors or places where it would normally be serene there would not be much noise as we would suddenly start clapping and cheering in such places causing people to be surprised.

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

Our group applauded and cheered randomly at people and generally in a completely calm situation where nobody would normally be clapping. We did it in two places. First was along the street in Katipunan where we clapped at random people who happened to be walking by as we walked the street. The other place we went to was a mall in Barangka, Marikina called Riverbanks. Here we chose to clap around the benches where people would usually sit and relax. We also applauded at a place behind riverbanks overlooking the Marikina river where people would usually relax and sit on the stairs and the grassy area.

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 reaffirm/reinforce the existing norms based on these reactions?

In this experiment there were different reactions that we were able to observe from people. For the people who were just walking by the street in Katipunan we found that they in general had no reaction as to why we were applauding. We believe it is likely that the fact that they are walking means they are more focused on something else like perhaps their destination. Perhaps they might have assumed that we were clapping for people who were behind them so they did not react also. When we went to Riverbanks and applauded at people we noticed that people were generally surprised as to why we would applauded. We believe that this is because when we are relaxing we would usually have our guard down and we would not really be expecting anything random like some people suddenly making noise to show up. We also got a reaction from older people where they said “Kumukulo ang dugo ko sa inyo, or tumataas ang dugo ko sa inyo”. We believe it may be due to their age making it more unhealthy for them to suddenly be surprised like the noise produced from our cheering that caused this. We also noticed that our clapping may have played to the norms of the people or rather made them believe that we are just conforming to a norm and followed along to our reaction. We noticed that when we cheered especially outside the mall setting where people were usually resting, that there were actually people who cheered along. We believe that they in a way did not think that anyone would break norms and therefore when we broke norms by randomly cheering they played along and cheered as well. Another factor could have been the location as we noticed that in this park like setting there were people who were dancing, or practicing their cheerleading routines so perhaps it is not weird for someone to do something worthy of applause in this setting. Therefore when we clapped they also believed that there is something worth clapping for. We also noticed that more often than not we would get more reactions if we were able to coordinate the clap well or rather we were able to all clap at the same time and it was rather loud. This is likely because some reactions aren’t actually obtained by the clapping that we do, but rather the mere fact that a loud noise was suddenly produced out of nowhere thus causing such a change in the reactions depending on the volume of our cheers and how well we were able to coordinate with one another when we cheered.

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), or social class (norms of the rich & poor)?

According to Social Context

There were a difference of reaction observed between conducting the experiment in the uncrowded streets of Katipunan and in a crowded mall in Marikina called Riverbanks. The people who were walking around the streets of Katipunan can be classified as coming from the rich or the middle class. The people who were walking around Riverbanks may be classified as coming from the middle or the low class. For example, when we were clapping while walking the streets of Katipunan. The people who would hear us clapping would not even look or care about us. They did not give any reaction or even wonder why we were clapping so loud. On the other hand, when we were doing the experiment in Riverbanks. People were looking at us and even wondering why we were clapping so loud. The people are also very surprised whenever we started clapping and some also reacted badly about us doing it.

According to Age

            There were also a difference of reaction observed between people who are young and old. When we tried clapping so loudly beside a person who is young, he did not do or say anything and just looked at us. But when we tried clapping so loudly beside a person who is old, he looked quite angry with us doing it. We told him that it was just an experiment for a class, and he told us that his blood went high because he was so surprised with what we did.  

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?

During the experiment, our group felt extremely hesitant in deviating the norm. We felt embarrassed and somehow, worried as to how people might react to how we would deviate from the norms. We were particularly worried when we were applauding and cheering near elder people as they had reactions with clear signs that they were rather irritated with the researchers. They also said things like “tumataas ang dugo ko sa inyo” and such things which of course made the researchers more hesitant to applaud other elder people as it may cause complications with regards to their health and that would definitely not be in the best interest of anybody conducting a social experiment.

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

The researchers found the activity to be rather exciting, but at the same time rather troublesome and really brought about a sense of worry within the researchers. I believe that by conducting this type of research/experiment we were able to better understand how imposing norms truly are to our society as we find that many of us would actually refuse to break them and even some of the researchers who would break the norms in certain circumstances would shy away within a different location or context. We believe this is because of the fear of being ostracized by others which when we think about it is what is known as an informal punishment for deviating from the norms and it’s not a punishment that is brought down by having laws in play. It is really a huge wake up call as to just how even just the fear of ostracism and mockery can help shape the way a society or even just a certain group of people within a certain location would act and feel as if they are acting according within the realm of what is “Acceptable” which is in nature a construct that society has merely created to be able to dictate what we may or may not do with our free will.

Another observation we had on deviation is that society would really view people who do such things as lowly or maybe perhaps “pulling a prank” as many of the adults seemed to not just look at us with irritation when we explained what we were doing, they also looked at us with a sense of doubt. As if they did not believe us one bit that what we were doing was for an experiment for school, but like we were just there to ruin their day.

SA21 B: Can we take a Selfie?

Terri Gan, Jasper Liu, Vince Mallari, Nadia Rodriguez, Calvin Sia

SA21- B

Breaching experiment: Selfies with strangers

1)      What norms did you violate?

As part of the “millennial” generation, our group is familiar with the concept of a selfie. A selfie is a photo you take of yourself, usually with a phone’s front camera. It can be seen as a form of self-expression, a way to show confidence, and means to feel empowered. Selfies are usually taken individually or in groups.

Our breaching experiment is to take selfies with strangers. The norm that our group violated is the unwritten rule of having “personal space” when one is with strangers. This is because to take a selfie, one must get close to whoever will be part of the photo. It is the norm to not be physically close to strangers. Given that the people who would be part of the selfie are strangers, the concept of having “personal space” is important.

Additionally, privacy is also a norm that has been violated. This is seen in this breaching experiment because strangers would not easily agree to take a selfie with a stranger.

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

Our group’s breaching experiment was to take selfies with strangers. This was done in UP Town Center on a Thursday afternoon. There were two variations for this experiment. The first was to take a selfie with a stranger for no reason. The other was to take a selfie for a reason. For the latter, when we were asked what the reason for the selfie was, we said that it is for a bet. We varied how we answered what the selfie was for, such as using gestures like referring to people we were with, or with no gestures at all. We tried to get as many selfies as we could, and to achieve this, we set a minimum for ourselves to have at least one successful photo with a stranger. We also decided to form groups of two and approached the stranger by 2’s.  

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?  

A)  Jasper and Terri’s experience: Out of the six people I asked, five of them agreed to take a selfie with me. Almost all of them were female, but there was one male. The man was happy to take a selfie with me and wished me luck. He probably took a selfie with me because I looked younger than him and harmless. I was wearing a collared shirt and pants so I could immediately pass as a student in either UP or Ateneo playing around with friend. Next, a woman who worked at a restaurant was shy at first, but eventually said yes. She probably saw me take a selfie with the man so was reassured that nothing harmful would come from it. She was reluctant to show her face to the camera at first, but was fine with it eventually. A saleslady told to take a selfie with the teddy bears instead and would not allow her face to be in the picture. The saleslady did not allow her face to be seen but was willing for me to take selfies with the store’s items. A reason could be that I was alone and had no proof it was truly for a bet. Lastly, Terri and I (Jasper) decided to stand by inside Jamba Juice and try to get some people’s pictures there. My friend bought a drink, and we acted as if we were about to start a bet. I then asked three women in the store to take a selfie with me telling them that it’s for a bet with my friend as I pointed to her. They all agreed and to make it look like I won the bet, I said “Yes!” and drank my friends drink. They probably said yes because the fact that I’m hanging out with a girl made it look like I wasn’t dangerous and the selfie bet was surely just for fun

Jasper's Selfie

Terri's Selfie

B) Calvin’ s Experience: Me and Vince both decided to go alone to find people to take selfies with but sadly only 1 person each accepted our offers. I  asked 6 people in total but only 1 agreed to take the selfie. I asked 3 old-looking guys but they all declined and said that “May hinihintay ako” or “Wag ako. Sa iba nalang” while looking annoyed and walking away. Some of the reasons that they declined to take a selfie was because taking selfies were really childish or that by taking selfies with us, it reduces their masculinity. One possibility could be that they thought I was gay and that I wanted to take selfies with them because I thought they were handsome so they avoided me because they didn’t want to be associated as being gay.  After that, one of the 2 girls that I asked was from Miriam College and was taking selfies of herself inside the mall but when I approached and asked her, she declined and just walked away looking embarrassed and weirded out. This may be her reaction because she had preconceptions of guys and thought that I would do harm to her. Being from a school like Miriam College may also shape her thinking that guys are evil so as a result, girls like her shouldn’t talk to guys let alone take selfies with her.  The only girl that agreed to take a selfie with calvin was an employee inside a store. She was reluctant at first and asked whether I was a college student or not. When I said that I was a college student, she agreed to take the picture with me. She probably agreed to take the picture because she realized that taking the selfie won’t do any harm to her and that I was just a college student so nothing was going to happen to her.

Calvin's Selfie

C. Vince’s experience: I was the first one in the group to ask for a selfie. I asked a teenage guy who was seating on a bench in the open area at UPTC. I was very hesitant and it took me a long time before I could approach him. The guy was looking at us as I tried to muster up the courage to approach him. When I finally asked a selfie from him, he looked rather annoyed and rejected my request. I said it was for a bet, pointing at Calvin and Jasper to justify it. He shook his head and snubbed me. After that I tried to ask another mall goer, this time a middle-aged female. She was busy with her phone as I approached her. She was a bit startled and looked very snobbish. She was straightforward in rejecting my request by saying “No”. I tried to change my approach after 2 failed attempts. I asked mall staff for selfies since they were easier to approach. I approached 2 sales ladies, 2 female janitors, and 2 male shop clerks. They all refused to have a selfie with me due to the following reasons: they were shy, they were not wearing their uniform, store policy (no cameras), insisted that their other co-workers have the selfie instead. From there on, I tried to ask female teenage mall goer, I asked her and she was surprised, looked a little bit scared, probably because I looked sketchy. She replied “I have to go somewhere” and walked in a hurry. I was a little frustrated because no one wanted to take a selfie with me but after the 9th try, I saw this salesman standing around the store. I asked him and he was very nice as well as enthusiastic with the request even saying, “Selfie lang pala eh".

Vince's Selfie

D) Overall experience of the group: As predicted, more than half of the people we asked were not willing to take selfies as 16 out of the 26 declined our request of taking a selfie with them. These people were very wary as to what wanted from them with their paused speeches and closed body language. Some were quick to say no, and even brushed us off as if we weren’t in front of them. Some of the responses were “Bakit ako?”, “Sa iba na lang”, “May pupuntahan pa ako”. Similar to reports on the news, people’s faces were normally blocked or censored to hide their identity. This is the norm we all have unconsciously followed, which is the known fact that our faces play a huge role in our identity and we do not want other people who we don’t know or barely know to have a “piece of us” with them, especially the ones that aren’t written. This is one of the main reason why most people rejected our offer, since they do not want a piece of their identity, even if we will never see them ever again, to be part of our, a group of strangers’, property.

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.).

We approached people of different gender and purpose in being in the mall that afternoon. We approached male and female staff of the mall (salesladies, janitors, clerks, waiters), who were the most accommodating ones, yet still has a tinge of hesitance in accepting our request. Most of them accepted our request straight-out and were even laughing with us until the very end, and there are a few, mostly women, who escaped by merely smiling and prolonging the question without answering directly to not provide us with rude service. We also approached female students from UPD. They were fine with us taking a selfie with them as they smiled with us in taking the photograph. However, some teenage mall goers (male and female) did not accept the request and looked surprised and shy when they were asked.  Attempting to receive a yes from mall goers, which were from the upper, middle class, male/female was quite difficult. The women, whose age are of 30-40, were nice and kind, but also rejected the request. Men of this age, on the other hand, were not comfortable with the idea and were quick to reject the request.

It was harder to approach common mall goers (middle and upper class) compared to the people who work at the mall (working class) because they were easier to approach and they treated us as customers. Common mall goers do not expect strangers to approach them because of the norms of personal space and privacy. For the upper/middle class, females were also more willing than males when asked for selfies.

The gender of the person asking for the selfie also played the role. It was easier for the female to ask for a selfie since there is no “sketchy” factor. For males, it was hard for them to ask for a selfie specifically towards females since they might be perceived as threats. When we split into groups of two, the group with one female member was able to get a significant number of selfies. The group with two males were not able to get any selfie.

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 were all hesitant in doing this experiment, for the obvious reason of not wanting to breach a norm. However, as the experiment went on, we were more comfortable with the activity. After one groupmate began the experiment, we were encouraged to look for more people to take selfies with. It was exciting to see people who were alone because they were an easier “target” for the experiment. When the experiment progressed further, it became even more fun because we felt like we were actors on a television show.  Although being told “yes” for this experiment was exhilarating, accepting continuous rejections lowered our self-esteem greatly since we were not used to being greatly rejected in a span of 3 hours. Because it’s an activity that is not normally done, it was exciting.

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

• The people whom you’re with and whom the stranger is with affect the chances of getting a selfie with a stranger. The specific location in the mall also plays a role. Your race (Filipino,Chinese, etc) age (how you look), gender are all important factors. The way you asked the request was also vital. When there was no reason given for the selfie request, the stranger was extremely hesitant. When it was backed up with the “bet” reason, some somehow felt relieved and obliged but others still did not want their photo taken.
• Perfect timing was also a key in asking for a selfie. Usually, the right timing is when the stranger is all alone. It was less embarrassing on our part because we’re just going to ask one person. The “target” should be approached as soon as possible. You shouldn’t wait around because he/she will notice you. They would feel that you’re watching them and as you approach them they will quickly reject you (happened on our first try). It was also important not to follow around the target since they might think you’re a stalker or a thief.