A company has a strict dress code, with employees wearing business suits every day but with the option to dress business casual on Fridays. One manager began dressing in business casual on other days besides Fridays, feeling it was acceptable as long as he was not meeting with customers. How might the other managers respond to this manager's deviance from the group norm? How might deviance be functional for this group?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

There are three possible responses: 1) The group might try to get the manager to adhere to the group norm. 2) The manager might be fired or in some other way be removed from the group for not conforming. 3) The group might change the norm to be consistent with the member's behavior.

Some deviant behavior can be functional for groups. Deviance is functional for a group when it causes group members to evaluate norms that may be dysfunctional but are taken for granted by the group. Often group members do not think about why they behave in a certain way or why they follow certain norms. Deviance can cause group members to reflect on their norms and change them when appropriate.