First draft due Fri., Jan. 26
Final draft due Mon., Feb. 5
In order to do Paper 1, you first must break a norm--i.e., not conform to some social expectation. It is up to you what norm you break--you can do a behavior that is non-normative across our culture, e.g., facing the back rather than front of an elevator when riding it, or something that is non-normative among some smaller group of which you are a member, e.g., sitting on your dorm roommate's bed, if that is not normative for you and your roommate(s). [You may not use either of these examples.]
If you pick an illegal or unethical behavior as part of breaking your norm, you must live with the legal and moral consequences (I accept NO responsibility, and will not come bail you out of jail!). There are plenty of norms you can break that will not cause legal repercussions or harm to others. Try your best to avoid discomfort to other people in performing this assignment. You may find it helpful to explain to anyone involved what you were doing after you are finished breaking the norm (i.e., you might want to "debrief" those who saw you do the assignment), both to reassure them, and so that you don't lose their friendship when they decide you are batty.
In your paper, you should cover the following points, incorporating relevant points from the readings when applicable (the points are numbered, but your paper should not include these numbers or necessarily be broken up according to the points--it should flow as an integrated whole):
1) Describe what you did to break the norm. Describe the situation, and what is normally expected, and what you did that was not consistent with those expectations. If your norm is one that people outside a particular group would be unfamiliar with (for example, you are a member of a sports team that has a certain pre-game ritual that you broke), you may have to go into some detail to set the stage so that people outside the group can comprehend how what you did constituted breaking a norm.
2) Describe other people's reactions to what you did. Did you think they behaved the same way they would have if you had not broken the norm? Or did they respond differently? Did they ignore you? Did they sanction you, and if so, how--verbally? Non-verbally?
3) Describe how you felt. Did you "chicken out?" at some point? Start laughing? Blush? Was it fun? Exhilarating? Mortifying? Did you feel like your behavior looked natural or staged and deliberate as you were breaking the norm?
4) Describe anything else of note that occurred. Is it possible that your perceptions of what other people were thinking were biased by the fact that you were embarrassed? Did anyone else follow your lead (i.e., did you set a NEW norm, by breaking an old one)?
Make sure that you properly cite references. If you only use references from the class readings (which is thoroughly acceptable), you do not have to include a reference section (Because we have all read the text, we will be able to find the references).
If you are citing a study that Aronson talks about, you should use the "as cited"
format:
More sophomores than juniors or seniors conformed to the new norm I set, which is
consistent with past findings that people who feel less accepted by a group are more likely to
conform (Dittes & Kelley, 1956, as cited in Aronson, 1995).
Note that you very well might have to turn to the endnotes in the back of the book to figure out how to cite some studies!
If it is a general idea Aronson talks about, or he cites more than one study in support of an idea,
you can just cite Aronson:
I stopped breaking my norm when two people began to use physical force to make me
conform, a clear example of compliance (Aronson, 1995).
You may also want to cite one of the articles in the reading packet:
When I broke my norm, a number of people wanted to
help me, perhaps because they were in a good mood (Isen & Levin, 1972).
Additional notes: