This article was originally published on UmbraVoice.
This year, I ended up being home alone on Easter morning, so I decided to go to church. I had been meaning to go to a service at the Cathedral, anyway, and what better time to do it than Easter Sunday? Mass started at 10:00, so, like the American I am, I showed up at 9:30 thinking that, like American churches on this holiday, it would be packed. This was very much not the case; it was completely empty. Even by 10:00, there were not that many people there. The service started a few minutes late (but really what else should I have expected in an Italian church?), and commenced with the ringing of a bell.
Now for reference, I am not all that religious. I went to an Episcopal high school, where we attended chapel services a few times a week, but other than that, I went to Catholic church only on the major holidays with my grandmother. So I am familiar with the general layout of a Catholic church service, but I do not necessarily always know what is going on… especially when the service is in Italian.
I was able to understand certain key points in the service, but I definitely did not get every word. Also, there were some differences in the sequence of standing and sitting that I had to pick up on… and how did I do that? By looking at the people around me. It seems simple and intuitive… monkey see, monkey do, right? It’s called social proof, and we turn to it in situations when we don’t really know what we’re doing; don’t know where to pay at a restaurant? Observe what those around you are doing. Not sure what to do with your hands in a photo? Take a glance at everyone else. Unsure when to sit, stand or kneel during an Italian Catholic church service? Do as I did and just wait for someone else to make the first move.
Social proof is such a simple and adaptive way of social learning, and it can be so helpful when you find yourself in a setting or culture that’s different than what you’re used to. Living in Italy, I have found myself looking often at the locals around me to see what the “correct” behavior is in a new situation- whether in the grocery store, coffee shop, or using public transportation, it has been an easy way for me to learn about the everyday culture of Italy.
Lauren Foster graduated from Bates College and spent her Spring 2017 semester studying at the Umbra Institute, where she participated in the UNICEF Pigotta Project and took courses in topics relative to psychology, intercultural communication, and Italian language and culture studies. At Bates, Lauren studied Psychology, Women and Gender Studies, and Math.
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