Deviant for a Day

Regina DeSimone

Survey of Sociology

Dr. Carol Davies

October 17, 2017

Deviant for a Day

Social norms are the rules of behavior that are used to consider people acceptable within a group or society.  If someone does not follow these norms, it could spark a variety of reactions.  Before taking this class, I never really thought about the “unspoken” rules of society. After finishing my experiment, I realized how going against these norms really does spark conversation.

The social norm I chose to experiment with involves elevator rides. I live on the 16th floor of my building, so I am constantly on an elevator and it has become a normal part of my day. Especially while living on a college campus, it feels like you are always riding an elevator to get somewhere, so we’ve had more than enough practice with proper elevator etiquette. You first press the button for the elevator to come pick you up.  When it arrives, if there is enough room, you hop right on.  If it is too crowded, you might wait for the next one. When you make it onto the elevator, you press the button of the floor you are heading towards. Then you wait. You stand there quietly or look to your phone to avoid any awkward elevator encounters.  That’s the socially acceptable thing to do, but I did the opposite.  I chose to walk onto an elevator and instead of facing the door; I walked right on and faced directly into the eyes of the others in the elevator.

The first time I engaged in this norm-violating behavior was in the morning on the way to class.  Every morning, when I get on the elevator there are at least six other people on it already from the above floors.  So, while leaving my dorm, I knew that people would already be heading down to the main lobby to go to their classes as well.  So, when I walked on, I would have no reason to press a button. When the elevator came, I walked straight on and faced the other students.  I didn’t go on my phone, I didn’t look down, I looked directly into the direction of everyone else on the elevator. There were five other people on the elevator.   There was only one person who noticed my behavior, but all she did was stare.  The other passengers on the elevator either had headphones in or were looking directly at their phones.  I didn’t feel very awkward or different during this interaction because I believe the earliness of the morning caused everyone to be too tired to actually be aware of their surroundings or to interact.

When I got to work later that day, there was no one riding the elevator with me to do my experiment. When I finished with work though, I wasn’t alone in the elevator. There were three middle-aged men on the elevator as I walked in.  I was a little nervous at first to face them, not only because I was in the same building as my internship, but also because it was adults this time and not other college students. I was hesitant to do this experiment at my workplace but I went for it anyways. I walked in and continued to face the other passengers and wait for reactions.  One of the men asked if I was okay and how my day was.  I responded by saying, “I’m very good and my day was great!”  The second man laughed, while the last man just observed.  As I walked off, I felt a little more judged than my first time around earlier that morning in my dorm building.