1) What norm did you violate?
We violated the norm of not speaking to strangers in public. We also violated the norm that only people we have connections with (friends, family, or people we make eye contact or dance with in a club) can be given compliments.
2) Describe the breaching experiment in detail. What was the activity? Where did you do it?
Our breaching experiment was talking to strangers in public. When we watched previous breaching experiments done by others, people get alarmed or afraid whenever they are approached by strangers, so we decided to add a twist in our breaching experiment by approaching them while showering them with compliments. We figured that this might be a great thing to do because it’s something positive; something that would make people feel good.
We did the activity at UP Town Center and the places around it. Inside UPTC, we approached walking people and complimented them on their clothes, hair, and basically anything we could develop a conversation from. We would also talk to the friends they were with and asked if they agreed.
3) What were the different reactions of the people? List all possible reactions you observed.
We approached around 20 people and among them, we had 2 very interesting and striking responses. One was a woman who was really frightened when one of our members went to her. She was running away, and trying to avoid conversation. It was also noted that her face looked like she was “scared to death”. One of our members had to talk to her about it after, but she even asked us to delete the footages we took of her.
Surprisingly, we also met a person who reacted in a really “chill” way. When we complimented him regarding his jacket, he shared that he borrowed his jacket from his friend, and even talked about how expensive it was. We felt like if he wasn’t just passing by he would’ve been willing to entertain us and talk longer.
Most of the reactions we observed were shock, passiveness, and shyness. Most of the people didn’t want to prolong the conversation.
Three people acted as the “intruder”: two girls and one boy, and it is rather interesting to note the differences on how people reacted to a female versus a male. With our female members, the receptions were very relaxed and calm and they even talked. With our male member, the reactions were mostly scared and surprised, and that only fellow males were able to react as calmly.
It is also worthy to note that students, or people who are around our age responded in a more calm way rather than those who were older than we were. The social classes could not be noted down, unless it is an obvious difference like the person’s occupation. Employees we approached were very shy but appreciated the compliments more than those who weren’t.
Those people who kept a conversation after the breach would most likely joke around and ride with the compliment we gave. Most of these people were aware that there was something questionable going on so they asked if we were doing an experiment for school. One even asked right after “social experiment ‘to ‘no?” so the awareness is a factor in people’s reactions.
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?
Based on the video we watched in class about the foreigner who did the hand holding breaching experiment in China, the Filipino people more or less reflected something similar in their reactions. Filipinos are more paranoid in the reactions, just like the Chinese. The audience easily gets startled, and, not to jump into conclusions, but maybe it’s because we are Asian, and as communal Asians, it is difficult to interact with other people who are not part of our own communities. It is not easy for us to interact with strangers and people we are not familiar with; we are more comfortable with the people we know or well within our community. This is why if we did the experiment in school, we would most likely get reactions that would accept our behavior.
The people we approached who tried to escape the situation right away were uncomfortable because it is not usual to be approached by a total stranger and be showered with compliments on your first conversation. Ever since we were children, we were already repeatedly told not to talk to strangers so the deviant act of talking to strangers reinforced the existing norm to avoid conversing with people you don’t know. We saw that most of the people we approached were surprised, tried to escape the situation, or were uncomfortable despite the friendly approach we used. This activity showed us that what we were taught as children to not talk to strangers is carried on until adulthood, and is a norm among the different age groups and social classes. We also noticed that the younger people we approached were more open to conversation, probably because they are more trusting compared to adults.
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.).
As stated previously, there is a gender factor being played in our experiment, even though it is not something we wanted to test. We realized that females get warmer reception from strangers compared to males. With males, only fellow males were more comfortable in riding with the joke and even thank the male for the compliment.
Also as stated previously, there is a social class theme at play, but not as obvious. Employees are more comfortable facing strangers (they work as cashiers and janitors), most probably because it also comes with their jobs to face strangers all the time.
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?
When we thought of this experiment, we were hoping to gather positive reactions from the people. Because who wouldn’t want a random compliment in the midst of their hustling days? However, we noticed that most of them only said “thank you” out of courtesy. We felt like they were really trying their best to escape the situation and instead of feeling positive about it, most of them felt unsafe and threatened.
We were hesitant to do the activity because we’re not entirely sure of how the people would react. After all, we’re both strangers to each other. We looked for people who seemed up for our activity and easy to approach, but it was still difficult because we approached those who were walking and they could easily walk away and escape given the situation.
6) Other observations and analysis that you may have on the activity and on deviance in general.
Over all, this activity has proven that the norm instilled in us to not talk to strangers ever since we were children is hard to deviate from. Even us, who performed the activity and had to approach the strangers were hesitant and uncomfortable because it is not something we’re used to. However, we were glad with some of the reactions we got such as having people engage in a conversation because they seemed to appreciate the compliments given to them and they are different from the typical ones who would hurriedly leave the situation. In general, it is really difficult to deviate from what is usual and what we are used to, although there are also some people who are also open to change and what is unusual.
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