...Have you ever decided to not go with the “social norm?” Have you ever thought that anyone going against it must not be “cool” enough for you to hang out with? I am strong in my belief that those who go against the “social norm” and non-conform are more likely to conform with others around them and create a whole new lifestyle for all those around. Why am I so strong in my belief that nonconformity is another way of conforming? When all a person does is go with the “social norm,” such as dressing like others, talking like others, or even acting like others, but when an individual goes against the “social norm” the individual is more likely to be willing to go out and conform with others in their own way. “True conformity involves following...
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...PSYCHOLOGY 260 SHORT WRITING ASSIGNMENT #3 SOCIAL NORMS In society today, many people act accordingly to social norms which is generally “implicit or explicit rules a group has for acceptable behaviours” (Aronson, Wilson, Fehr, Akert, 2013). If an individual acts defiantly towards expected behaviours, most of the other people would tend to isolate or reject that individual. In part of my violation of the social norm, I had worn flip-flops with socks the entire Thursday out in public to interpret people’s reactions. This social norm is referred to a descriptive norm, considering that this “behaviour is approved or disapproved of by others” (Aronson et al. 2013). This day was like any other regular Vancouver day, it consisted of rain. It became abundantly clear that the social norm for that day would require an individual to have shoes on. Besides the social context that it is generally uncomfortable walking with your socks drenched in water, some people believe that wearing flip-flops with socks altogether is despicable, and unacceptable social behaviour. As I walk through the school, I began to notice a lot more people looked at me when I walked by, compared to the usual nil before. To my senses, these stares felt nothing like acceptance, but felt more related to exclusion. This was understandable, as groups tend to use “social exclusion as effective ways to enforce normative behaviour” (Whitson, Wang, Kim, Cao, Scrimpshire, 2013). It wasn’t until after school, that...
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...different perspective. Control theories take for granted the existence of a cohesive set of norms shared by most persons in the society and reason that most persons want to and will typically conform to these prevailing social norms. The emphasis in these theories, unlike learning theories, is on the factors that bond individuals to conforming lifestyles. The bonds act as social and psychological constraints on the individual, binding persons to normative conformity (Toby 1957; Hirschi 1969). People deviate from norms when these bonds to conventional lifestyles are weak, and hence, when they have little restraining influence over the individual. Among control theorists, Travis Hirschi (1969) has made the greatest contributions to our knowledge about bonding processes and deviant behavior. Writing on the causes of delinquency, he argued that four aspects of bonding are especially relevant to control theory: emotional attachments to conforming others, psychological commitments to conformity, involvements in conventional activities, and beliefs consistent with conformity to prevailing norms. Among the most important of the bonding elements are emotional attachments individuals may have to conforming others and commitments to conformity—psychological investments or stakes people hold in a conforming lifestyle. Those having weak attachments—that is, people who are insensitive to the opinions of conforming others— and who have few stakes in conformity, in the form of commitments to occupation...
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...University's Medical Center and School of Medicine. He and his team was accused of falsifying data about the use of microarray genetic analysis for personalized cancer treatment. And those researches were published in various prestigious scientific journals. It was a big shock, not only in the field of healthcare, but also in the field of statistics. As a scientist, Potti didn’t conform to the ethical norms when he conducted statistical research. Finally he paid his price for it. It became the huge scandal in Duke University. Such irresponsible behavior would have brought so many tragedies if it had not been stopped. So when researchers conduct statistical analysis, conforming to the ethical norms of statistical research is very important. Researchers should be honest, objective and careful to do their jobs. The reason why conforming to the ethical code of statistical research is important is because: first, ethics is the foundation of statistical research; second, conducting research ethically is also a form of social responsibility implementation; and finally, conforming to the ethical norms can promote collaborative work. First, ethics is one of the most important bases of statistical research. Without ethics, any research will be meaningless. Conducting statistical research can make people know about the world, also help people solve realistic problems. If researchers don’t obey the code of ethical research, if they change the data to fulfil some personal purposes when they...
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...Deviance is defined as as a violation of social norms, in regards to sociology. But what if deviance is actually just the opposite? What if deviance is simply a social norm? Cultural deviance theory suggests that the conformity to cultural norms of lower class societies actually causes crime. Simply stated, if you are in a lower class of society, committing a crime is actually an act of conformity. In the case of these poor societies, it is more obscure to not conform to the consistent lifestyle of crime. Moreover, does deviance really even exist in these societies? Those born into a lower class society, according to the cultural deviance theory, are born into a life of crime. Members of the poor society are expected to commit crimes, due...
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...take note that it is a story with a strong central focus on societal norms of the early 20th century and how those norms begin to change, especially among women of era. In “Bernice Bobs Her Hair,” we observe as the story’s central characters—a pair of young women—challenge the traditional gender roles set upon them by society, and in doing so, challenge the idea of conformity itself. Clearly this reflects the actual mindset of young women who lived during this time, as the 1920’s is particularly known as a time when women truly began to break societal norms and expected roles. But while the theme of identity and feminism seems clear to us, there also appears to be an underlying message that contrasts with this initial idea. Although “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” is a story about progression and escaping from societal norms, it leaves us with the strong notion that society is ultimately more comfortable with conformity. Some of the more obvious themes found within this story include those such as feminism and identity, which easily go hand-in-hand with one another. Feminism is a particularly interesting theme in this story because of the timeframe in which it takes place. As stated before, the early 20th century saw a drastic cultural change in the lives of women, beginning with the younger generations. Throughout “Bernice Bobs Her Hair,” we witness the contrasting images of Marjorie, the supposedly non-conforming, bold, and outgoing individual, and her cousin Bernice, who is much more...
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...Conformity is an act of matching one’s character and personality to another that is socially accepted and perceived as “normal” in a situation or group. Social norms are implicit, unsaid rules shared by a group of individuals that guide their interactions with others. Conformity is the tendency to align your attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors with those around you. It’s a powerful force that can take the form of direct or overt social pressure or subtler unconscious influence. Three reasons why people conform are social pressure or norms (normative social influence), the need to look right or not foolish (informational social influence), and the desire for security within a group often of a similar age, culture, religion, ethical values, or educational status. People of any age conform to some standard. Three factors that can increase the likelihood of a person consciously or unconsciously conforming might be the characteristics of the situation, low self-esteem or doubt in his or her abilities, or social pressure to fit in with a unanimous group. People are more likely to conform in ambiguous situations where they are not sure how to respond. There are several instances of conformity that I notice on a daily basis. Religious and cultural beliefs shared amongst people is an example of conformity. A more specific example of conformity would be stopping at a red light or stop sign when you are traveling to conform to societies socially accepted rules of safe driving. People in...
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...see if they can get by with it as well. 2. Definitions are one's own attitudes or meanings that one attaches to given behavior. Definitions are orientations, rationalizations, definition of the situation, and other evaluative and moral attitudes that define the commission of an act as right or wrong, good or bad, desirable or undesirable, justified or unjustified. In social learning theory, these definitions are both general and specific. General beliefs include religious, moral, and other conventional values and norms that are favorable to conforming behavior and unfavorable to committing any deviant or criminal acts. Specific definitions orient the person to particular acts or series of acts. 3. The probability that an act will be committed or repeated is increased by rewarding outcomes or reactions to it, which may obtain approval, money, food, or pleasant feelings. That is referred to positive reinforcement. The likelihood that an action will be taken is also enhanced when it allows the person to avoid or escape aversive or unpleasant events are referred to as negative reinforcement. 4. Social learning process is one in which the balance of learned definitions, imitation of criminal or deviant models, and the anticipated balance of reinforcement produces the initial delinquent or deviant act. Differential...
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...What is Conformity? Conformity is a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group. This change is in response to real (involving the physical presence of others) or imagined (involving the pressure of social norms / expectations) group pressure. Conformity can also be simply defined as “yielding to group pressures” (Crutchfield, 1955). Group pressure may take different forms, for example bullying, persuasion, teasing, criticism, etc. Conformity is also known as majority influence (or group pressure). The term conformity is often used to indicate an agreement to the majority position, brought about either by a desire to ‘fit in’ or be liked (normative) or because of a desire to be correct (informational), or simply to conform to a social role (identification). Jenness (1932) was the first psychologist to study conformity. His experiment was an ambiguous situation involving a glass bottle filled with beans. He asked participants individually to estimate how many beans the bottle contained. Jenness then put the group in a room with the bottle, and asked them to provide a group estimate through discussion. Participants were then asked to estimate the number on their own again to find whether their initial estimates had altered based on the influence of the majority. Jenness then interviewed the participants individually again, and asked if they would like to change their original estimates, or stay with the group's...
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...prayer”. The major reason for staging the punk prayer was because of Vladimir Putin’s run for presidential election, after serving two consecutive terms as a prime minister. In order to make sense of this case study, I will say that the Pussy Riotss are a nonconformist minor group in the Russian society who desire change in their society. They refuse to follow the norms of keeping quiet by expressing their opinion about the Russian government and the system as a whole through the “punk prayer.Mill will support this argument with his theory of individuality. Mill will begin by saying that “it is important that human beings should be free to form opinions and to express their opinions without reserve” (Mill 53 line 1-3). Mills statement explicitly encourages individuals to think for themselves and to be able to express their thoughts. By doing this, Mill believes that the individual will have strong impulses, which will produce energy and such energy can be used as fuel for change. He will further support these arguments by saying ‘conforming to custom or norms merely as custom does not educate or develop any qualities which are distinctive endowment of a human being” (Mill 56 1-3). As humans we are not created to...
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...tragedy is his belief that Desdemona is not pure and chaste. According to the men of the Renaissance, chastity, silence, and obedience are three attributes that define Renaissance women. Although Othello takes place during the Renaissance, the women in the play, Bianca, Desdemona and Emilia, defy traditional norms by lacking at least one of the major attributes defining women; Bianca's lack of chastity is clearly displayed when she unlawfully sleeps with Cassio; Desdemona's lack of silence is clearly displayed when she constantly urges Othello to give Cassio's position back. However, in the last two acts, Emilia displays the strongest challenge to the definition of Renaissance women as silent, chaste, and obedient, mainly to defend Desdemona. First, in order to defend Desdemona's chastity, Emilia challenges the societal norm of silence. Recall the incident when Othello calls Desdemona a "whore" for cheating. In response, Emilia protests loudly against Othello and attempts to disprove his belief that Desdemona is not chaste: "A halter pardon him [Othello]! And hell gnaw his bones! / Why should he call her [Desdemona] whore? (4.2. 143,144). Instead of Emilia conforming to the attribute of Renaissance women as silent, she condemns Othello for his false accusations against her mistress, Desdemona. Later in the play, after finding Desdemona killed, Emilia challenges silence again: "As ignorant as dirt! Thou hast done a deed-... / The Moor hath killed my mistress!" (5.2. 171...
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...In one of the most misunderstood autobiographical novels, The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath chronicles the mental breakdown and attempted suicide of a young fictional embodiment of Plath herself, Ester Greenwood. Ester and Plath’s lives were extremely similar: both had perfect grades throughout their school careers, attended Smith College on scholarships, wrote poetry, and pursued English degrees. Both women did a summer internship in New York City, where they both faced internal turmoil that led to their suicide attempts and institutionalization. The Bell Jar focuses on Ester and Plath’s views on femininity, the struggle with their identities, and anger towards the social norms at that time. During the 1950’s women were subordinate to men in every...
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...TITLE: outline and assess sociological explanations for gender difference in patterns of crime. What is the relationship between crime and masculinity? Crime can be described as an act that harmful to an individual as well as the society; such acts are against and punishable by the law. While deviance can be described as acting against social norms, for example a boy wearing a skirt would be out of place in the society The sex role theory states that, when young males and females are younger they socialise in different ways, resulting in young males being more reckless and neglectful. There are several sociologist and different versions of the sex theory. Edwin Sutherland stated that the gender difference when it comes to socialisation is very obvious. Girls are treated with more supervision and control, while boys are treated not as strict as the girls and are emboldened to take more risk to be tough, which makes boys more inclined and a higher tendency of committing crimes. Talcott parsons believes that there are clear gender roles in a nuclear family, where the father performs the instrumental role which portrays him as a leader and provider, while the mother performs the expressive role of providing emotional support and talking of the children. For girls, because their female role model who is their mother is always available unlike for boys who don’t not have as much access to the male figure in their lives (the father) because traditionally the father would be at work...
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...People often conform for many reasons. In my everyday life, I also adjust my opinions, judgment, and behavior so it matches that of other people, or norms of a social group. For example, I will always flush the toilet after I finished and I will say “goodbye” before I hang up the phone. My behavior is due to normative social influence, which means I have a strong desire to be accepted by others because I do not want them to think I am a wield person. Therefore, it is hard for me to imagine what will happen and how others will think of me when I violate the social norm. Yet, I broke a social norm last Friday when I took the train to New York City. I sat next to a woman when there were many empty seats. At first, the woman did not pay attention...
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...In my Norm Violation assignment I chose to break the common dining etiquette norm of eating with your hands. Since eating with your hands is only deviant behavior in certain dining situations, I chose to break this norm at a local sit-down restaurant in Eugene, Café Soriah. I went to the downtown restaurant with a group of friends for an afternoon meal without telling them of my Norm Violation assignment. Being the only informed one in the experiment seemed like the best way to get the most candid reactions from my peers. When I arrived to the restaurant I immediately noticed several social norms that everyone at the establishment was following. The customers and the staff were well dressed, and everyone was conducting himself or herself in an appropriate indoor manor. Everyone who was dining there was using silverware and had napkins in their laps as well. I also noticed that the group of people I had walked in with had already broken some less serious social norms or folkways. They way we were dressed epitomized college students who were struggling financially and those who did not have dressing nice high on their list of priorities. I could tell that we had instantly acquired stigmas from both the staff and some of the customers, simply by how we were dressed for the setting we were in. However, we were not acting unruly by any means and these stigmatisms seemed to be overlooked once we were seated. We were seated in a very open area of the restaurant and immediately...
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