Social norms

Social norms refer to the rules that a particular group uses for the inappropriate and appropriate values and beliefs. Norms normally vary, and they tend to evolve through time and also from one age group to the other and between the social groups and classes (Gruman et al. 2005). Ignoring social norms puts an individual at risk of becoming an outcast, unacceptable, and unpopular from a group.rnViolated normrnThe social norm I choose to violate when completing my assignment is dressing like a girl. Being a boy, I decided to dress like a lady in a blouse and a skirt and put had heels on. This is a dressing style that was completely out of the ordinary think because boys are expected to dress different from girls. I decided to violate this norm because it would result to different reactions. Being a boy, and dressing like a lady was certainly a form of norm violation. This is a behavior that would attract a lot of attention and even result to different reactions.rnSettingrnI choose to violate this norm in the school compound during a school day. Performing this exercise in the school would allow me to observe the reaction of my schoolmates and even my lecturers. The reason for selecting the school compound is because I was certain that everyone would be in attendance and the school tends to have a diverse group of students. Because of the diverse students in the school, it would attract differing reactions and when in the school, students are never afraid of expressing their feelings. Thus, this provided me with the perfect environment to perform my experiment.rnFeeling before, during, and after experiencernBefore I would start my experience, I felt very nervous. I was not sure how I would walk through the school compound the entire day in heels. Walking in heels was the most challenging part, but I had to complete my assignment. I was mostly afraid about my teachers because I did not know how their reaction would be about the entire thing. However, I felt a bit calm when I walked through the entrance gate and walked straight to my locker. I walked facing down the entire time until the bell rang for the class sessions to begin. Before going to the class, I stopped for a minute wondering how my classmates would react to my dressing. I felt very uncomfortable when I entered the class mostly because of the skirt as I felt it was tight. I do not wear tight trousers; thus, it was a bit uncomfortable and also being in the presence of other boys in a skirt was much trouble. I felt like giving up on this exercise, but I gained enough courage to go ahead with my experiment. After I had finished my experiment, I had a feeling of accomplishment. I was sure i had executed the exercise well and most importantly doing something that I never thought I would do. I managed to complete my assignment on time and had a lot to write about regarding my experience in violating a norm.rnResponsernThe response that I got from students and my teachers differed in some way. Much of what I saw was people who looked astonished and others just staring without saying a word. No sooner has I entered the classroom then everyone including the teacher and students burst into laughter. The lecturer stopped what he was doing and just stood there in shock. It was shocking because I looked much different, and no boy in the school has ever dressed like a lady. The teacher told me toward towards him, and as I moved to the front, everyone was dying in laughter. I felt embarrassed, but there was nothing that I would do. My teacher asked me why I was dressed like a girl, and I whispered to his ears that I was doing my sociology assignment.rnHe asked me to go and sit, and he continued with his lecture. The lecturer would not stop looking at me every five minutes and was just nodding his head the entire time. On the other hand, my classmates would not stop laughing. When the teacher was teaching, my friend seated behind me did burst into laughter forcing all the other students to laugh. I was serious all the entire time and tried very hard not to laugh. The lecturer decided to end the lecture because he would not continue as he could not stop laughing. When the teacher left, the class leader asked if something was wrong and if I was crazy. I ignored all the questions that students were asking.rnWhen the lunch break bell rang, I walked myself slowing to the dining hall and the reaction of students in the hall was one that I never expected. A student from the corner shouted “look at that weirdo." This made me feel shy as all people in the hall were looking at me. Some people were shouting while clapping while others threw papers at me. One student approached me and walked with me to a table asking me what was wrong. The students continued staring at me, and a group of girls from my class admired my shoes saying that I have nice heels. One student recommended that I should go see the school counselor because she thought that I had snapped. Ignoring all the comments of students, I managed to complete my experiment and had enough material to write about the reaction of people.rnConclusionrnOne observation that I made from the reaction of students was that people tend to react in different ways when a certain norm is violated. In this case, some students found it funny how I was dressed, other laughed while some recommended that I should seek counseling. I realized that fundamental attribution error is an essential factor in reactions. Fundamental attribution error claims that there is an error in thinking for the observer that lead to misattribution of behavior is certain incidences (Schultz 2007). This attribution error results to negative and positive consequences. When performing the experiment, I observed negative consequences as some students thought that I was crazy as they did not know that I was performing an assignment. Completing this assignment helped me realize how norms impact the mindsets of people. This assignment offered me the opportunity of learning how social norms are important in the society and its role in our lives. Social facilitation was evident when students in the classroom reacted, in the same way, in shock and laughter when they saw me dressed like a lady (Dubois 2003). The experiment shows the different that exist between following and breaking a norm in the society.  rnReferencernWeiten, W Gruman, J & Coutts, L (2005). Applied social psychology USA, Cengage LearningrnSchultz, W. (2007). The constructive power, reconstructive, and destructive power of social norms Psychology Science 18 (5), 429- 434rnDubois, N (2003). Socio-cognitive approach to social norms Taylor $ Francis Group Janet Peter is the Managing Director of MeldaResearch.Com a globally competitive essay services which is the premiere provider of Essay Writing Services, Research Paper Writing Services at Term Paper Writing Services at very affordable cost. For 9 years, she has helped a number of students in different academic subjects.