Effects of Violating Norms

The students in Milgram's experiment were aware that they would violate the norms of asking people for their seat on a subway and they felt guilty and embarrassed for doing so. This caused a sense of discomfort because they were afraid of the response they would get and was also conscious about what others would think. Therefore, this demonstrates the importance of norms in society because it suggests that we should act a particular way in a situation and if we do the opposite of the norm we will be looked at differently. Norms in a sense governs our behaviour. Another example similar to Milgrams experiment would be to see a long lineup at Tim Hortons. The norm would be to line up at the back of the line patiently to waiting to be served. Violating the norm would be to ask someone at the front of the line if you could take their place. This violates the norm because the others in the line would automatically deem this as unfair and would question, "why would this person feel  that their time is more precious then ours, where they could just cut in at the front of the line"? Similarity, the individual trying to cut the line  would feel embarrassed or shy to ask for someone else's spot in the line.