Name__________________________________
Bronnenkant Psych 101
Date_______________________
Circle One M/W Sat
CHAPTER 15 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Student Project: Violating a Social Norm
Solomon Asch demonstrated that most people will yield to the majority opinion even when it
conflicts with their own. Most of us believe that we are different. When asked how we would respond in
the Asch experimental situation, we predict we would resist group pressure and stick to what we know is
right. We underestimate the power of social forces. David Myers has elsewhere suggested that students
may feel the potency of social situations by imagining themselves violating some less than earthshaking
norms: standing in the middle of a class, greeting some distinguished senior professors by their first
names, munching popcorn at a piano recital, wearing shorts to church.
Here’s what I would like you to do.
1. Violate one of the following simple social constraints or norms:
a. Get on a city bus or train and ask another passenger for his or her seat;
b. Get in a crowded elevator and loudly sing a song;
c. Sit in the empty chair at an occupied table in a restaurant; or
d. Any other social norm that I approve in advance.
2. Write a one or two page (max) paper:
a. Describing the social norm;
b. The day, date, time, and location where you violated the norm;
c. What you did to violate the norm;
d. Your feelings about violating the norm, and whether you were successful; and
e. The reaction of the people present.
You will separate your paper by the five sections listed in number 2 above. So for example, the
first section will be “1. The Social Norm,” section 2 will be “2. Day, Date, Time, and Location,”
3. Violating the Norm,” etc.
Remember, you can only violate a social norm when others are present, you cannot do this
alone.
SPELLING AND GRAMMAR COUNT 5 POINTS.
1