Norm Violation Noticing How People

Norm Violation

Noticing how people behave on public transportation, I have always wondered about issues related to personal space. Different cultures have different concepts of personal space, too. In some countries, standing or sitting close to strangers is acceptable, even normal. In other countries, a far greater degree of personal space is expected or offered. Western Europe and North America tend to be areas in which personal space requirements are relatively high. Unless we know someone well, we tend to not want to sit close to him or her on a bus. If a bus is relatively empty we are expected to sit far away from the next person. Therefore, I decided to violate this cultural norm by sitting next to someone on an empty bus. Based on my perception of personal space norms in our culture, I predict that the person I sit next to will move away and appear noticeably uncomfortable. I also predict that if other people are on the bus, they might look at me funny for choosing to sit next to a stranger when I could have gotten my own seat alone. Finally, I hypothesize that the result will be different according to gender, with women acting or appearing more uncomfortable than men when their personal space was being violated.

My method entailed getting on two different empty busses, so I selected unpopular routes later at night when traffic was low. I dressed well and was well groomed as to not seem suspicious or offensive in any way. I made sure to carry myself confidently, so as to not appear threatening. I decided that I would carry out the experiment twice: once by sitting next to a same-gendered individual and again by sitting next to an opposite-gendered individual.

The first time I got onto the bus, I sat down next to a man sitting alone even though there were many other seats on the bus. I did not notice any changes in the man's body language, although he did shift aside a bit to offer me more space. In general, the man did not seem disturbed by my seat selection.

The second time, I sat down next to a woman who was sitting alone. The woman turned and looked directly at me and furrowed her brow just a bit as she was turning away. I could hear her sigh as she shifted over dramatically as if to avoid being too close. She was reading a book and listening to headphones. Although she glared at me at first, she refused to look up until her stop came, at which point she stood up. I decided to take the experiment one step further, by looking directly at her and smiling before getting up to let her out.

The results of the experiment were mostly what I expected, except I did not predict such a nonchalant reaction from the man. The woman acted as predicted: she grew noticeably uncomfortable almost to the point where I believed she might have moved away from me if she had not already been sitting there. I expect that some women might have even ventured to ask me why I chose to sit there instead of one of the many empty seats on the bus but this woman was too polite or reserved to do so.