SOC 100 - Social Interaction

This was a fun assignment. We were told to break a background assumption and then record peoples behavior towards us. I dressed differently with a tie and sweats. I'd like to go further next time if I ever have to do it again for a class. I got a 45/45 on this one. Here's the assignment.

Assignment for Micro-Sociological Approach

And Social Interaction

1. What were your feelings of yourself when you were doing this experiment?

I was apprehensive about going into a casual meeting wearing a shirt and tie. Everyone there has known me for many years and I’ve never worn a tie, except to funerals and church. I was wearing black sweat pants, a green striped shirt and a red tie. I thought this would get reactions from people, which it did. I felt nervous going into the meeting and was cautious entering. I was thinking that the people were going to size me up and judge me. I was a little embarrassed at the way I was dressed. I felt self-conscious as if everyone was looking at me and at the same time I felt isolated.

2. What was the initial reaction others had of you?

The first reaction I noticed from people was their facial expression. It was one of surprise. One smiled and said, “You look nice today”.  I’m sure she was sincere, but ignoring the unmatched colors. One girl got a really big grin and said hi, but only after I said hi to her first. One man just smiled and looked down. He made no eye contact with me. Nobody came into my intimate space. After we were all seated I noticed a man made eye contact with me and then looked away with a little smile on his face. Most kept their distance and were silent. At the end of the meeting, a close friend of mine tugged on my tie and smiled broadly. He was in my personal space but not close enough to be in my intimate space. He was surprised at the way I was dressed, but said nothing to me about it. Another close friend sat on a counter top talking with me and I noticed his arms folded across his chest. I thought that was different body language, because we’re close friends and his arms are usually in his lap or down by his side. Overall my attire seemed to be ignored. Maybe ignoring me was the face-saving technique called studied nonobservance (Henslin, 2011). 

3. What means did the people around you use to get you to do, act behave as they expect you to be?

I think it was quite obvious to them something was different about me. I can’t say for sure, but I believe that their studied nonobservance, making no eye contact and silence was a subtle way to get me to change. They could have been unconsciously isolating me in an attempt to get me to conform too. Also, maybe unconsciously the isolation was a negative sanction because I was breaking a norm and they wanted me to change. The last guy that tugged on my tie is a very close friend and maybe that was an action he used to try to get me to change. No one made any comments or prodded me to at least take off the tie. There wasn’t any harassing either, most likely because I knew everyone pretty well and they aren’t very judgmental in my opinion.

4. How does personal space, eye contact, body language, impression management, and role performance help explain your reaction to your behavior and others’ reaction to your behavior?

My behavior was different and my reaction at first was just due to my anticipation of what they might do.  I unconsciously wanted to fit in as I always do, but knew I wouldn’t this time because I was changing my normal behavior. The distance zone between us was probably greater than usual and I reacted to that by being self-conscious as if I was the center of attention. Maybe they were embarrassed like me and that explains the lack of eye contact. The body language (arms folded across the chest) of one friend caused me to feel isolated or distant. I was playing a role and front stage in my role as a student.  There was a role conflict between my role as a student and one as a friend. I felt as if I was being deceiving, but no harm would come from it and they would get a kick out of it after I told them. The role performance I gave was sufficient enough and they behaved differently because I was not acting like my normal self. In summary, I broke the background assumptions and doing so caused them to act differently towards me. 

 References

Henslin, J. (2011). Essentials of sociology: a down-to-earth approach. (Eight ed., p. 102). Pearson. Retrieved from http://www.coursesmart.com/9780205841141