Social
understanding.
Norm Violation Exercise (LO 8.2 & 8.8)
Social psychologists such as Asch and Milgram have repeatedly demonstrated that much of our behavior is influenced by powerful norms, yet many students deny their
vulnerability to these social forces. Instead, many students say they would resist group pressure and not conform or obey.
For this assignment, you will violate an implicit norm and then analyze both your own and other people’s reactions.
Part I:
•   First you need to identify an implicit social norm. Describe the norm, and how you will violate it.
•   If you are having trouble thinking of a social norm to violate here are some examples:
http://www.radford.edu/~jaspelme/social/examples_of_norm_violations.htm
•   Some other examples are:
o   Appearance (wear pink slippers; blue dot on nose)
o   Interpersonal Behavior (stand too close or far; avoid eye contact)
o   Social Etiquette (violate elevator norms; eat with mouth open)
•   Be sure to do the behavior at least 3 times in different places to note any interesting patterns (e.g., people’s reactions may differ as a function of
sex, age, location).
•   Note: do not do anything illegal or that will endanger you or anyone else…
Part II:
•   Write a paragraph about your experience. Incorporate the following points in your post:
•   Analyze your thoughts and feelings while you violated the norm. Where you uncomfortable?
•   How did others react? Did they seem uncomfortable?
•   Describe why we tend to conform to these social norms? What advantages and/or disadvantages are there in conforming? What about the power of the situation
(why do we feel such pressure to conform)?
•   Key social psychological principles to include in your analysis: norms, role-playing, conformity/nonconformity, normative social influence, cognitive
dissonance, and self-monitoring.
Stereotypes are Schemas (LO 6.7)
·        Stereotypes often function as schemas—cognitive framework developed through experience that affects the processing of new social information.
·        Thus, one reason people hold stereotypes is that doing so can conserve the cognitive effort that would be required to perceive the person as an
individual.
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Part I: I find that we are often unwilling to admit we use stereotypes. Think about how physical appearance cues affect our perceptions of others. Consider the cues
we use to categorize others including cues based on social categories, such as race and gender, and cues based on clothing style and facial expression. Consider how we
have been socialized to think a certain way about social group members.
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Now answer the following question: How do you decide who to sit next to on a bus or in a crowded waiting room? Do you rely on stereotypes/schemas? What cues do you
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Part II: Think about the stereotypes we see in media (movies, magazines, ads, etc). Over the next several days, as you watch television programs, news, commercials,
or films, note what stereotypes you find. Select 5 instances of stereotypes you find. Fill in the following chart:
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Date:
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TV Show, Movie, or Product Advertised:
Group Stereotyped:
Stereotype Portrayed:
Thoughts:
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Feel free to share an ad or video clip that highlights some of the stereotypes.
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Testing Proximity-Liking (LO 7.3) and Similarity-Attraction (LO 7.5)
Part I: Proximity and Liking
1.   List the names of at least 6 of your closest friends starting from childhood to the present. Describe how you met the person (i.e., in what situations you
became friends).
2.   Now take note of how many times proximity played a role (e.g., friends who lived nearby, shared classes such as homeroom, sat nearby—often alphabetically).
3.   Write a concluding paragraph analyzing your results, and the role of proximity in liking. Do you results support the idea that proximity influences liking?
Why or why not? Why do you think proximity plays a role in friendships? Has the rise of social media changed this factor?
Part II: Similarity and Liking
1.   Go through the list of adjectives below three times. First, check those adjectives that describe themselves. Second, think of a close friend and check the
adjectives that apply. Finally, check the adjectives that apply to a person you know, but with whom you could never be friends.
2.   Now count the number of traits in common between themselves and a friend (note: A trait in common occurs whenever a trait is checked for both self and friend,
or whenever a trait is unchecked for both). Likewise, have them count the number of traits in common between themselves and a nonfriend. Compare the two numbers.
3.   Write a concluding paragraph analyzing your results, and the role of similarity in liking. Do your results support the idea that similarity influences
attraction? Why or why not? Why do we like people who are similar to us? Why do we dislike people who are not similar to us?
Adjective Checklist
Rate yourself, then a friend, and then a person you know with whom you could never be friends.
   Self   Friend   Non-Friend
1.   active   ___   ___   ___
2.   aggressive   ___   ___   ___
3.   ambitious   ___   ___   ___
4.   belligerent   ___   ___   ___
5.   brave   ___   ___   ___
6.   dependent   ___   ___   ___
7.   dominant   ___   ___   ___
8.   gentle   ___   ___   ___
9.   helpful   ___   ___   ___
10.   independent   ___   ___   ___
11.   obliging   ___   ___   ___
12.   passive   ___   ___   ___
13.   peaceful   ___   ___   ___
14.   protective   ___   ___   ___
15.   seeks protection   ___   ___   ___
16.   self-centered   ___   ___   ___
17.   self-confident   ___   ___   ___
18.   sociable   ___   ___   ___
19.   tactless   ___   ___   ___
20.   timid   ___   ___   ___
