Social Norms
Norms are the guidelines that societies impose on people to define what is considered right or wrong. They can be either strongly or weakly sanctioned, and can also be either implied or clearly stated. In order to observe how people react to the violation of a norm, I chose to change my clothes with those of a friend in public, thus violating an implicit norm. Also, I asked a friend to record people’s observations with a video camera or take notes of what she saw. I carried out my norm violation at a swap meet, a beach, and the mall.