Social Change (booklet 6)

Question 1

What is social change?

Answer 1

Occurs when whole societies (rather than just individuals) adopt new attitudes/ beliefs/ ways of doing things
eg accepting earth orbits around the sun

Question 2

Define cryptomnesia

Answer 2

As a social group we acknowledge a change has taken place but we don’t have a conscious understanding of where it came from or the processes involved eg rallies, riots, protests

Question 3

Describe the types of deeper processing

Answer 3

Systematic processing is when the minority viewpoint is carefully considered over time
On the other hand superficial processing is when a viewpoint is instantly dismissed without analysis

Question 4

Give an example of how consistency has led to social change (minority influence processes)

Answer 4

The suffragettes, despite being a minority, did not change their position
Their fight for the vote lasted 15 years

Question 5

Give an example of how commitment has led to social change (minority influence processes)

Answer 5

The suffragettes were willing to suffer eg imprisonment, hunger strikes, death
Personal risk indicates strong belief
Augments message- augmentation principle

Question 6

Give an example of how flexibility has led to social change (minority influence processes)

Answer 6

Suffragettes showed flexibility by stopping their campaign to help the war efforts

Question 7

Give an example of how normative social influence has led to social change (conformity processes)

Answer 7

Campaigners can exploit conformity processes by appealing to NSI
They provide information about what other people are doing eg bin it, others do
Encourages social change by drawing attention to what the majority do

Question 8

Give an example of how informational social influence has led to social change (conformity processes)

Answer 8

People can be convinced by evidence
Eg those who moved to the suffragettes position would have genuinley believed the suffragettes were right in what they were saying

Question 9

How could dissent lead to social change? (conformity processes)

Answer 9

One of Asch’s variations highlighted the importance of dissent
The confederate giving a different wrong answer broke the power of the majority encouraging others to dissent
Therefore dissent has the power to ultimately lead to social change

Question 10

How do obedience processes lead to social change?

Answer 10

Zimbardo suggested obedience can be used to create social change through gradual commitment
Once a small instruction is obeyed it becomes more difficult to resist a bigger one
People ‘drift’ into a new kind of behaviour