Wednesday, February 10, 2010
3.2
Norms in groups are an essential part of functioning as a group. Each person usually has a part in a group, whether it be a group of friends (you have the funny one, the quiet one, the smart one) or a work group (the leader, the note taker, etc.) While the roles within a personal group might be emergent roles, roles within a work group are usually assigned roles. These roles help give us guidelines for our actions, or what norms would be for our behavior within that group. When these norms are violated, however, it can cause a problem. A personal example of this is when I told my friend something very personal. I expected her to not repeat it to anyone, but later found out that she did in fact tell others. This violated our norm, that I can talk to her and she will keep it private. I had a conversation with her letting her know that I was hurt by her action, and that I hadn't expected this behavior from her. We worked it out, but even still I'm a bit hesitant to tell her very private details, because this norm was violated between us.
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Its funny how you say that everyone plays their part, because my group of friends definitely play their parts. For me it’s the “leader”. Im always the dependable one, and the one who keeps everything copasetic. Im not sure if it’s the role I was given or the role I took, lol, but its really one I embrace. I think as far as personalities go it’s the right fit for me. We also have the “big mouth” guy and the “quite” guy. Its funny because you really don’t think about until you take a step back and look at what the particular norms there are for your group. Kinda weird, lol.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on illustrating how norms in groups are important; your example of each person playing a part in the group is true. I had not thought of norms to be the function or role an individual might play in their group. In my group, I would consider myself well rounded, easy going, and funny; however, I can also play the quiet, smart, or shy role also. This change in norm for me depends on my mood rather than the group I am with. Understanding that the role we each play in our group gives us a “guideline” in how to behave in that group is fundamental in order to identify the standard rules of the group. The example of your trust being broken by a friend was a great way to show that norms can have different standards, such as attendance, dress code, or even a secret being honored.
ReplyDeleteNessaw27,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed how you used the examples with your friends. I do not think that we step out side of the box and look at the norms of the people around us. I must say that now discussing the concept of norms, I took a closer look at my friends and realized that they all do play their own roles of norms. I have as well had a similar situation to yours where I shared something personal with a close friend and never thought that she would say anything to anyone else, but unfortunately she did. Unlike you though this broke a bond between us and I had lost all trust in her and we are not longer friends. When you change the norms in a close relationship it does break a trust barrier, as well as the usual norms this change the relationship or can end in complete dissolution of the relationship.