Essay On Breaking Social Norms

Before embarking on this study, I thought we were not entirely constrained by social norms, and if confident enough, we could be capable of breaking any norm. However, after studying the physical strain that breaking a social norm had caused others and realizing I experienced the same physical strain, I recognized that our society is constructed of social norms that are detrimental to break. I think this experience has taught me to be sensitive to the insecurities of others, and not to assume I know the reason behind someone 's action. A fashion trend of wearing small neck scarfs has emerged among a hipster group, and it hasn 't become a mainstream fashion yet. I decided to try this trend for a day, to broaden my style boundaries and to see how people would react to me wearing something unusual. One of my housemates had a neck scarf that I borrowed, and I curated a hipster outfit around this scarf. However, when I put it on and stepped out of my room early one morning, I was not confident in my outfit. I realized I was breaking a social norm for myself, and I was not sure how to cope. I decided to forge on and not pay attention to how I felt about it. I also reminded myself that I like to experiment with my style, and people would recognize that I have an eclectic style. However, as I strolled into my 9

When I was preparing for this study, I had several friends suggest some ridiculous social norm violations that caused me uneasiness by simply thinking about violating them. The two social norm violations that I participated in caused me some uneasiness, but not an extreme level of stress experienced by Milgram 's participants. Before conducting this study, I didn 't realize how controlled we were by social norms, and how we can feel that our reputations will be in jeopardy if we violate any of these