SA21L: Picture this Random Selfie with Strangers

Tara Chan

Christine Chua

Jessicca Dee

Denise Khow

Joseph Yap

 

1. What norm did you violate?
   
   
   People are fond of taking pictures in order to capture and preserve memories. However, there is an unspoken rule or norm that tells people to only take pictures with people that they have met or been introduced to. By asking random people whether they would agree to take a picture with any of the members, the group is able to violate this norm. Moreover, taking selfies with another person requires a permeation of personal space. Through this experiment, the group is then able to test a person’s boundaries when it to comes to strangers.

2.  Describe the breaching experiment in detail. What was the activity? Where did you do it?
   
   
   The group’s breaching experiment was to observe and to take down the reactions or responses of random people when approached and asked to take a picture with any of the members of the group. The experiment was conducted in SM Megamall because the members knew that this mall was favored by more people with different genders, ages and social classes. It was also conducted on a holiday, specifically July 6, Eid’l Fitr. For approximately four hours, the different members of the group individually went around the mall asking random people if they would agree to take a selfie with him/her.

The group noticed that people were reluctant and first asked what the picture was for before agreeing. As a result, the group had to come up with various excuses such as: “wala lang,” “gusto ko lang,” “I was dared by my friends,” and “it’s for the documentation of my trip.”. After the encounter, whether it resulted in a picture or not, the members explained to the participants what was going on; that they were conducting an experiment for a school project to observe people’s responses to something that violates the norms in society (i.e. taking a picture with a complete stranger).

3.   What were the possible 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? 
   
   
   The different reactions of people are listed in the table below. The group believe that people reacted this way because of the many crimes being reported in the Philippines. As a result, people living in the Philippines are more cautious and wary of people they do not personally know, especially when they want to take a picture with them because that picture may be used against him/her if it fell into the wrong hands. In addition, people are used to taking pictures with people that they know. In the event that someone they are not familiar with asks to take a picture with them, majority of them would be suspicious and ask what the picture is for. Some would even become more defensive by either backing away, averting eye contact, or by holding bags and valuables closer to their bodies. Most people are also aware that photos are things that may last forever so a number of people would get more self-conscious when asked to take a picture. As a result, they would either fix themselves up or say that they are too shy to have their picture taken with someone they do not know.

Description of the person we approached	Gender of the member of the group who asked	Excuse used (if any) to answer the question “Why?”	Their Reaction/Response
Old Couple	Female	N/A	“No thanks”
Middle-aged female passerby	Female	N/A	Refused and continued walking
Young woman, approx. 20-30 years old. Vendor of the Foss Coffee Stall.	Female	“Wala lang”	Laughed and said no, but asked why a member of our group wanted to take a picture with her. This vendor did not change her response, even after hearing the member’s excuse.
Female worker at Toy Kingdom	Female	“Gusto ko lang po”	Asked why our group mate wanted a picture with her. Complied after learning our member’s excuse.
Female worker at Toy Kingdom	Female	“Dare lang”	Asked why our group mate wanted a picture with her. Complied after learning the member’s excuse.
Mother at Toy Kingdom	Female	N/A	Refused to take a picture because it seemed was suspicious
Male Worker at Toy Kingdom	Female	N/A	Refused to take a picture because “Baka bawal”
Female sanitary worker in the fashion hall food court	Female	N/A	Agreed to take a picture.
Female Saleslady manning a stall, approximately 20-30 years old	Female	“Wala lang” and “Gusto ko lang”	Was shy at first. Asked why our group mate wanted a picture with her. Later on agreed after a few words of persuasion.
Female (LGBT) passerby in lower food court	Female	N/A	Flat out no
Female saleslady, after serving one of our groupmates	Female	N/A	Rejected politely. Asked what the picture was for.
Female with a baby at the lower food court	Female	N/A	Said “yes” without any further questions.
Male salesperson, approximately 20-30 years old	Female	“Wala lang”	Said yes. Unwilling at first but after further convincing, he agreed to the picture.
Dad with a young kid, passing by	Female	“Wala lang” and “Trip ko lang”	Said no because he is with a young child. He added that he might have agreed if he was alone.
Young male child at Toy Kingdom	Female	N/A	Walked away
Two male children, approximately 10-12 years old, at Toy Kingdom	Female	N/A	Said yes and smiled for the picture
Random female passer-by, approximately 20-30 years old	Female	N/A	Said no and walked away
Female employee in Toy Kingdom	Female	N/A	Said no because it’s “nakakahiya”
Wife standing, waiting for her husband	Female	N/A	Said no
Female salesperson	Female	N/A	Said yes, even took another one cause the first one was blurry
Group of friends approximately 16-20 years old at the upper food court	Female	N/A	Said yes
Couple in the upper food court	Female	N/A	Said no because they were in a hurry
Female salesperson in Comic Alley	Female	N/A	Said yes, fixed herself for the photo
Middle-aged female, employee at the hotdog stand in the lower food court	Male	N/A	Said yes, quite serious
Middle aged female, employee at Toy Kingdom	Male	“Wala lang”	Said no, very suspicious and insistent on the reason for the picture. “Siya na lang!”
Couple at Toy Kingdom, late 20’s	Male	N/A	Girl said no. Guy glared and just walked away
Female employee at Toy Kingdom in her late 20’s	Male	“Wala lang”	Said yes, thought that she would take the picture instead of being pictured with. Looked around and agreed
Middle aged female, employee at National Bookstore	Male	“Dare po”	Said no, shocked. Insistent on the reason why. Called her other co-workers
Female employee at National Bookstore in her late 30’s	Male	N/A	Said no because she was pregnant. Amused with the situation and walked away
Female employee at National Bookstore in her late 20’s.	Male	“Dare lang po”	Said yes, flattered
Elderly female at the upper food court	Male	“I was dared by my friends”	Said yes, very agreeable and delightful
Middle aged male at the upper food court	Male	N/A	Said no, too busy. Did not even look up.
Male in his mid-30’s at the upper food court	Male	N/A	Said no, very defensive.
Female employee at Comic Alley in her mid-20’s	Male	N/A	Said yes, also thought that she would take the picture instead of being pictured with. Held phone to take the selfie
Salesman for condo, male (LGBT) in his mid-30’s.	Male	N/A	Said yes, very cordial

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)?

With the results of the breaching experiment, the group was able to notice some patterns; there are certain people of relatively similar backgrounds who reacted the same way. It’s conclusive to say that there are several different factors that elicit certain reactions from those approached. The one with the largest impact would be (from what the group has observed) the person’s social class, gender, age group, and if they were staff or a customer.

Megamall, as a venue for the breaching experiment, was advantageous in seeing the elements of social class at play. Megamall actually has two food courts: one at the ground floor of Mega A and one at the top floor of the Fashion Hall. Coincidentally, though not surprising, the food court at the ground floor sold cheaper and more local food, meaning it caters to the lower to middle class market, while the food court at the top floor sold more expensive and more foreign food, meaning it caters to the upper-middle to upper class market. This strategic placement was convenient in that it allowed the group to target participants from varying social classes. The people from the upper food court of the mall were more likely to decline or be defensive (moving to shield their bags and children).

Along with social class, the group was also able to observe gender and gender norms (the resulting reactions in relation to the gender of the group member and the gender of the participant he/she approached). The group’s gender makeup is 4 women and 1 man. Majority of the participants’ gender was female, while a few were males. A striking observation made by the group was the difficulty to approach men, in general, for both male and female group members. For the male group member, the task of walking up to men and asking for a picture with them was uncomfortable, due to reasons such as: it being an odd request, them getting the wrong idea and it becoming a lot more questionable since the group member is also male.This possibly relates to society’s judgmental view towards male-to-male interaction, reinforced by the fact that both participant and group member were strangers to each other. As for the female group members, it was also difficult for them to approach men since the men might get the wrong idea and take the request out of context. Additionally, the immediate response of the men was to reply in a curt manner, unlike the female respondents who would react in a shy, and less firm, manner. In general, men seemed less approachable as compared to women and more difficult to reason with, and thus majority of the participants were female.

As for the participant’s age group, the group observed that participants who belong to the teenager or young adult age group were more willing to take a picture with the members. This could be due to the fact that the younger generation is more attuned to technology and social media, and thus are more comfortable with taking selfies. However, children, adults, and the elderly were highly reluctant and even suspicious of the activity. This may be attributed, for adults and elders, to the generation gap between them and their younger counterparts. As for the children, they were, presumably, as with all children, conditioned by their parents to be wary of strangers (“stranger danger”) and to avoid prolonged contact.

An interesting observation by the group was how employees of certain establishments were more likely to agree to the activity. A possible reason behind this could be that their training, as part of the staff, is to be accommodating to their customers. Usually employers instruct their employees to always cater to their customers and do whatever they ask, as much as possible. There is that saying, “The customer is always right”. But this might also not be true in all situations since there were some staff that were reluctant to have their pictures taken, saying it might be against their company’s policy.

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?

The group was quite hesitant to conduct the experiment because the members were afraid that people might get the wrong impression and might think that they are up to something that may harm them. It also took a lot of courage to go up to a complete stranger and ask to take a picture with him/her because the group was also scared that there may be people, with bad intentions, walking around the mall and they may just be looking for their next victim or target. Another factor which contributed to the hesitation was the thought of being rejected. Though it was understood and expected, the thought of rejection subconsciously contributed to the factors that could have hindered the group. However, despite these hesitations and fears, the group gathered up the courage and was able to carry out the experiment.

While carrying out the experiment some of the participants did manifest the projected hesitations the group had. After asking for a picture and explaining the experiment one of the participants even informed her husband in hush tones about what happened. The group feared that they would be reported to the security of the mall. Though thankfully this had not happened or at least the group was not apprehended and prohibited from continuing the experiment.

Though the original hesitations of the group did manifest itself the main problem the group had while the experiment was on-going was the explanation of the experiment to the participants. Most of the participants even those that agreed to have their picture taken did not pay mind to the researcher while explaining. Though they politely nodded and commented some of them still did not fully grasp the concept of the experiment.