Milgram’s Experiment

Experiment description

People have a rule that it is wrong to pass between people who are conversing. They seem to see a physical barrier that exists between people who are conversing and people will often try to avoid passing between them. In this experiment, I sought to determine how people would behave if two people stood in a corridor and started conversing. I thought people would find it awkward to pass between people who were conversing. It would determine whether there existed norms that people were committed to while they remained unwritten (Travers, and Milgram 437).

To ensure that people realized that we were conversing, I suggested using sign language while conducting our conversation. We would speak and incorporate a bit of observable body language such as moving our hands and shaking our heads. The intention was to determine if people would pass in our middle or would find way behind one of us. To make it easier to make the second decision, while one of us leaned on the corridor wall, the other left a small space between him and the wall. We would then determine if the majority of people preferred passing between the two of us or whether they sought for space behind one of us.

Expected outcome

While it would have been more convenient to pass between the two of us, I expected the majority of people to use the space left behind my friend. Though not convenient, I thought that people would seek to observe the norm that requires them to avoid passing between individuals who are conversing. Others would request us to come closer or request for a way between us.

Observations

People showed different reactions to our behavior. They all expected us to stand closer to each other when conversing. They also behaved as if they expected us to stand on one side of the corridor and leave enough room for everyone else. There were various ways in which people reacted to our breach. First, there were those who requested us to move closer and leave space for them to pass. Most of these people came to the point where we were standing and stopped. Depending on who they stood next to, they would request him to move closer to the other person for them to pass.

Most people who noticed the communication from a distance moved towards my friend and passed behind him. We noted that such people changed the track they were using slowly as they approached us and by the time they reached where we stood, they would just pass behind him and move on. In most cases, they showed dismay when approaching or turned after they had passed as if to reaffirm our formation.

There was a small group of people who were especially angry at us for standing in the way. We offered to move closer but also asked if they minded walking in our midst. They did. We moved closer to allow most of these individuals to pass. They actually advised us to stay closer to each other for other people to pass. When they had left, we resumed our positions and continued with the experiment.

The last observation was among those who passed between us without saying a word. These comprised a very small group. They just walked to our location and walked past us without much change in their behavior. Those who came in pairs showed a small pause in their conversation before continuing on their way. Some turned after they had gone past us and moved on.

Of all people who we experimented on, a measly 5 % showed no hint of the violation. All others passed and either turned back, requested for a way between us, sought for way behind one of us or stood before proceeding on their way past us.

Analysis

Most people treat the space between two conversing individual as a physical barrier. They do not see why people should stand far apart while conversing. Another norm is that people do not find it proper to pass between people who are conversing. In most cases, the people showed reluctance to pass between us. They saw it as a violation of protocol to pass between us. A small group of those who passed between us turned back after passing as if to confirm we were not angry by their violation.

Generally, people found it wrong to pass between the two of us and found us to be violating the norms for closing the way by standing so far apart. In reality, we had not closed the way and anyone would have easily made their way past us with ease. Moreover, people did not violate us by simply passing between us.

In conclusion, as would be expected and in accordance to the Milgram’s experiment, people sought to observe unwritten rules in this regard (Burger 493). As would be expected, there exists a social norm that prohibits people from walking between people who are conversing. Moreover, another social norm that requires people to stand closer when conversing also exists. People treated the space between us as inexistent for the most part. Those who did not still considered it wrong to pass between the two of us.

Works Cited

Travers, Jeffrey, and Stanley Milgram. “An experimental study of the small world problem.” Sociometry (1969): 425-443.

Burger, Jerry M. “Situational features in Milgram’s experiment that kept his participants shocking.” Journal of Social Issues 70.3 (2014): 489-500.