Whether we are deciding what outfit to wear to a birthday party or thinking of giving up our seat on the bus for an elderly woman, we are unconsciously, constantly guided by the social norms of our society.  Social norms are the common beliefs of how people should act in certain situations.  Recently, in what is called the “Social Norms Project,” Nazareth Academy students in psychology class engaged in a variety of behaviors that violated social norms: they recorded the reactions of those around them and learned about the importance of social norms in our society.

Psychology teacher Mrs. Reeves explains that,  “as a teacher, when the time comes to assign the project, I am always nervous.  I don’t want the students to carry out the experiment with the wrong people and get into trouble.”

However, the positive results of the project encourage Mrs. Reeves to continue the assignment.  Every year the students are overly excited to try their own social norm violation and see the results.

There are many different communities that Nazareth students belong to; therefore, the students were able to test out norm-contradicting behavior in a various environments.  A common domain experimented was in our school itself.

For instance, last year, Haley Renehan, Mike Stromberg, Jessie Villanueva and Danny DeSimone left psychology class early to exercise violation of social norms in the presence of other classmates.  First, they visited Mrs. Behrendt’s room; they sat down, answered questions, and left all together.  Then they sat in Mrs. Stanton’s room while her class watched a movie.

“No students really said anything to us,” recalls Haley Rennahan.  “I learned that in those situations people try not to react because they’re confused.”

Additionally, senior Sam Abed performed counter-normative behavior in Nazareth–this time, during his own math class.  Whereas the norm is to call a teacher by his or her surname, Abed called Mr. Drinan his first name: Peter.

“The class stared at me nervously,” describes Abed.  “Mr. Drinan simply told me not to ever, ever do it again.”  Abed learned from his project that social norms are present all over the world–even in the classroom setting he has been in his whole life.  His trial of social norm violation opened Abed up to think about all of the informal understandings that govern our society’s behavior.

Mrs. Reeves explains that this year, “most students had to take the project out of Naz.”  The “Social Norms Project” has become common knowledge to teachers and students at Nazareth Academy.  Consequently, to retain the effect of surprise and to ensure true reactions from those experimented on, students experimented in other settings.

Rachel Pellegrino, for example, exercised her norm-contradiction on the road.  Pellegrino, “pulled up next to someone at a red light and stared at them for the duration of the light.”  The woman in the car next to her felt awkward and tried not to look back into Pellegrino’s white Jeep.

On the other hand, Jon Croney took his project to the pedestrian street of Downtown LaGrange.  While it is the social norm to wave to someone when saying hello, Croney broke the convention by pointing and staring instead.  Both Jon Croney and Rachel Pellegrino learned that people become very uncomfortable when they are stared at.

“I understand why not staring at people is a social norm,” comments Crooney.

Lexie Petrovic brought her “Social Norm Project” back to her hometown– Burr Ridge..  During a family gathering, Petrovic contravened the social standard of personal space.  In fact, while in conversation with her cousin, Petrovic stood only inches away from his face.

“We kind of just laughed about since we are friends; but if I did that to a stranger, that would have been really awkward,” explains Petrovic.

Overall, the students learned a lot from the “Social Norm Project.”   The reactions of those surrounding them–whether they were family,  fellow classmates, teachers, or strangers– taught them the importance that social norms hold in our society.  When students failed to follow ordinary conduct, they were noticed.

The project also demonstrated that standard actions in our community are not ordinary in all environments.  For instance, when Lexie Petrovic was a “close-talker” to her cousin and others, they considered her behavior strange.  However, in Latin American, standing one to two feet away from someone while speaking is usually considered proper etiquette.  In fact, in Argentine culture, stepping away from someone when speaking is often considered rude.

Nazareth Academy’s “Social Norm Project” taught students the power of behaviors in our overarching society, and it also exhibited the variation of social norms throughout different cultures.  Psychology students love the project and are excited to have the opportunity to carry it out.  For this reason, it has become an integral part of Nazareth Academy.