All cultures have a set system of ideals, norms, and values. The culture in which an individual lives tries to encourage these views of appropriate behavior. When an individual does not follow what is considered “societal norms” then they are viewed as an outcast. In public spaces, individuals do what they can to “fit-in”. To be on the inside is to follow the norm. Norms are “behavioral regularities in a society as well as … behavioral expectations.” (Campennì, Andrighetto and Conte 17).
Individuals learn to conform to personal space boundaries as a societal norm. Personal space boundaries are defined as “the metaphorical separation between the person and his/her environment – where the person ends and the external environment begins” (Stiles and Raney 30). People develop their own sense of personal space and this space is not set at a fixed amount. It has been shown in studies that “people typically seek an ‘optimal’ distance for [their] interaction” (Bar-Haim, Aviezer and Berson 69).
Interpersonal spacing has many different factors in how comfortable a person is within their own personal space boundary. Some of the factors are personality, sex, or age of an individual. For example, the boundary of a child’s personal space is smaller than that of an adult. However, once a child reaches puberty, their boundary begins resembling that of an adult (Høgh-Olesen 246).
Humans thrive on socialization. What better way for them to try to fulfill this need than to attend an organized holiday event. Jefferson Pointe mall held a small free Easter event on April 19, the day before Easter Sunday. I imagined that I would be seeing an expression of religious activities in our society; however, after just a few minutes of witnessin...
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Campennì, Marco, Giulia Andrighetto and Rosaria Conte. Minding Norms : Mechanisms And Dynamics Of Social Order In Agent Societies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 19 April 2014.
Høgh-Olesen, Henrik. "Human Spatial Behaviour: The Spacing Of People, Objects And Animals In Six Cross-Cultural Samples." Journal Of Cognition & Culture 8.3/4 (2008): 245-280. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 April 2014.
Powell, Ryan. "Spaces Of Informalisation: Playscapes, Power And The Governance Of Behaviour." Space & Polity 14.2 (2010): 189-206. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 April 2014.
Stiles, Anne Scott and Thomas J. Raney. "Relationships Among Personal Space Boundaries, Peer Acceptance, And Peer Reputation In Adolescents." Journal Of Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing 17.1 (2004): 29-40. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 April 2014.
Can you imagine yourself being apart of a group or lifestyle, now imagine yourself not fitting in. Maybe some people think you’re weird, but people just like you understand. Many suggest that it’s dangerous while others want to join. Whatever the reason may be you still consider yourself apart of society. As you grow older you realize that many people have different backgrounds and maybe even distinct behaviors. When people feel a deep need for love or respect, values and morals may be forgotten. It’s their customs, rituals, and beliefs that make up their own culture.
Furthermore, sometimes the desire to be accepted is stronger than prevailing conventions. This makes an individual to do things to make him feel accepted in the society. Krakauer compares the people in Alaska and McCandless. He writes, “And I’m sure there are plenty of other Alaskans who had a lot in common with McCandless when they first got here, too, including many of his critics. Which maybe why they’re so hard on him. Maybe McCandless reminds them a little too much of their former selves” (Krakauer 221). In today’s society, an individual confirms itself to what a society wants and expect him or her to be.
Everybody wants to be accepted, yet society is not so forgiving. It bends you and changes you until you are like everyone else. Society depends on conformity and it forces it upon people. In Emerson's Self Reliance, he says "Society is a joint stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater." People are willing to sacrifice their own hopes and freedoms just to get the bread to survive. Although the society that we are living in is different than the one the Emerson's essay, the idea of fitting in still exists today. Although society and our minds make us think a certain way, we should always trust our better judgment instead of just conforming to society.
In the Milgram experiment, Stanley Milgram remarks, “Obedience is as basic an element in the structure of social life as one can point to”. I believe Milgram is saying that to fit in, we must abide by their rules and boundaries, with no questions asked. Rita Mae Brown quotes, “The reward for Conformity is that everybody likes you but yourself.” I believe Brown is saying that no matter how much you work and strive to be something you’re not, it is inevitable that you won’t feel the warm, fuzzy, comfortable feeling of acceptance. However, I believe that being an outcast is not a
To begin with, when I was younger I would have considered myself an outsider because when I first started school, I didn’t have the characteristics to fit in and felt like I would not blend into the people I was surrounded by. Also, I have met many people who have presented experiences from their past when they had felt like they didn’t fit in because they couldn’t keep up the standards to be popular. In social media, there are many guidelines that people feel the need to meet in order to feel like you belong and some who don’t match up can feel like outsiders, and that happens to many. Furthermore, in today’s society people feel the need to be popular or to fit in, and if they can’t meet the expectations they are considered an outsider and that happens universally. Others may suggest that just because someone doesn’t fit in a group doesn’t mean they are considered an outsider, they are just someone who doesn’t meet certain expectations. However, many others would disagree and would label someone an outsider when they don’t fit in or don’t meet expectations of society because that makes them think they don’t
In many cases, people feel that they have a unique identity, but that they can’t express that identity, due to various pressures. There are many obstacles that could possibly prevent people from expressing their true selves. In modern society, conforming to the “norm” is a huge aspect of this and often causes problems. People are heavily influenced by external forces: their peers and family. These external aspects of peoples’ daily lives often become obstacles, preventing people from being their unique selves. People fear of being viewed poorly which causes conformity.
On Easter Sunday, a dozen adults and half that many children gathered at the Perry City Friends Meeting an hour before their usual worship time. They came, bringing plates of food for a time of fellowship before worship. The children had an Easter egg hunt, while the adults visited over coffee and snacks. After a while, the group moved to the meeting room for a time of singing. The meeting room, a plain room with a stage at one end and a few small tables holding brochures along the wall, has simple benches arranged in a circle around a central space. Someone had put a small table with a vase of fresh picked daffodils in the middle. Music is not a part of the worship at this meeting which is unprogrammed, so this time of singing together was special for the Easter holiday. One person played the piano, while people looked through the hymnal for their favorite hymns. Anyone was free to suggest a hymn, as no one is in charge of planning a worship service. When worship time approached, the hymnals were gathered up and put away, and one adult led the children downstairs for First Day School. Without announcement, everyone lapsed into silence. The silence at Meeting for Worship is not a passive silence; it is the deep, comfortable silence of people accustomed to joining together this way. It was not broken when a few more people entered the sanctuary to join the group. The silence continued for about an hour with each worshiper communing with the Holy Spirit in his or her own way, not interrupted when the children reentered to join in the silent worship. One man broke the silence to say a few words about the simplicity of Jesus’ teachings, and then the silence returned. At the end of the hour, without announcement, one woman turned to gr...
In both Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, and The Barcode Tattoo, by Suzanne Weyn, there are different cultural norms that are expected to be followed, and those who do not follow them are considered outcasts. Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World, features a structural system developed upon the basis of physical and mental capabilities. This structural system is maintained by the utilization of the caste system in which each individual is born into a caste and is bred to enjoy his or her lifestyle. Within the dystopian society, each caste has one specific skill rather than a variety of skills as described, (1) “An Alpha-decanted, Alpha-conditioned man would go mad if he had to do Epsilon Semi-Moron work—go mad, or start smashing things up. Only an
There are two important areas in this research- territoriality and use of personal space, all while each have an important bearing on the kinds of messages we send as we use space. Standing at least three feet apart from someone is a norm for personal space.
Imagine living in a world where almost everyone lived the same lifestyle. Same cars, styles, and personalities, almost everything was the same. There was a set social norm and if you were different, you might have been judged for the way you lived. You feel the need to change your lifestyle in order to fit in with the world’s “social norm”. There is a pressure from the people around you or the town/city that you live in. Now it is highly encouraged to be different amongst the rest of the people to stand out. However, before being “different”, many people felt the need to conform to society’s norm. In the books The Sun Also Rises and Babbitt, social conformity plays a huge role in their storylines. The term social conformity is a society or
Societies that esteem social conformity view defiance as a by-product of insolence rather than an act of courage. Isolation of individuals that do not abide by the set restrictions is another common characteristic of systems that encourage mob mentalities. As a result, in order to be accepted by peers, individuals often have to function based on societal expectations. Some consider pursuing their own opinions and ideas against the social norms. This often garners backlash and hostilities from other members of society, ranging from physical and verbal abuse to denial of individual’s competence and sanity to complete alienation from society. Although some people are able to champion their freedom of expression and right to opinions over the need
Implicit social norms are introduced to us at a very early age, and exert a powerful influence on our behavior into adulthood. Our culture is ruled by social norms. In many situations, people’s perception of these norms has a big influence on their behavior. Implicit social norms are not openly stated, but found when disobeyed. Implicit rules are rules we conform to as a society, and generally these rules make living together more comfortable.
The distance maintained between two agents during an interaction, known as proxemics, is a fundamental aspect of social interaction. Proxemics was first described by anthropologist Edward Hall, who characterized the changes in social behavior between humans as a function of physical distance (Hall, 1966). Hall described the different distances individuals naturally maintained between each other, factors affecting interpersonal distancing, and differences in distancing behavior across cultures using four proximity zones: Intimate space, Personal space, Social space, and Public space. Argyle (2013) then refined each zone into their currently accepted ranges (shown in Fig. 1) and provided qualitative characterizations of how people modulated their
Conformity is vital to people’s life. Humans, being compound animals, live in a culture that works as a whole. Therefore, if there is a fault, the whole system might disintegrate. So, people are obligated to respect the affairs of others so that they can stay together as a whole. On the other hand Individuality, just like conformity, is necessary to life even despite the fact that modern person may not understand its worth. At one point people may want to be special from all the rest in one way or the other. As a result individuals might dress a bit in a different way as well as choose to do things we actually like. And, for on one occasion, we might create the opinions based on what we actually feel. However, earlier or later we are required to curb our impulsive desires so that society or culture does not tag us as eccentric or else weird, simply for the reason that people fear being alone.
* The personal space may be very small for a man and a woman if they