Social change SI Flashcards
(26 cards)
Social influence
the process by which individuals and groups change each others attitudes and behaviours (process)
Social change
this occurs when whole societies adopt new attitudes beliefs and ways of doing things (outcome)
Social cryptomnesia def
people have a memory that change has occurred but don’t remember how it happened
MInority social influence creates social change. For example ………
the African-American civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 60’s.
6 forms of social change
- drawing attention
- consistency
- deeper processing
- augmentation principle
- snowball effect
- social cryptomnesia
drawing attention
Marches drew attention to segregation in America, providing social proof of the problem
CONSISTENCY
Activists position remained consistent → always presented non-aggressive messages for many years, message and intent
DEEPER PROCESS
People began to think deeply about the unjustness
AUGMENTATION PRINCIPLE
Individuals such as ‘freedom riders’ risked their lives to indicate a strong belief which reinforced their message, and rode the bus.
SNOWBALL EFFECT
Activists like Martin Luther King gained attention from the government which led to the civil rights act in 1964 which prohibited discrimination
Lessons from conformity research:
Asch’s research:
- Importance of dissent
- Dissent has potential to lead to social change
lessons from conformity research
environmental and health campaigns:
- NSI
- Provide info on what other people are doing
- Social change is encouraged by drawing attention to what the majority are doing
Lessons from obedience research:
Milgram’s research:
Importance of disobedient role models
lessons from obedience research
Zimbado’s research:
- Process of gradual commitment
- People drift to new kinds of behaviour
Examples of how minority influence led to change:
- Opinion changed on the shape of the earth
- Suffragettes
- Changing attitudes towards waste disposal
- Changing attitudes against smoking
In 1959, Social Psychologists French and Raven described five types of power:
- legitimate
- reward
- expert
- referent
- coercive
legitimate
This comes from the belief that a person has the formal right to make demands, and to expect others to be compliant and obedient.
reward
This results from one person’s ability to compensate another for compliance.
expert
This is based on a person’s high levels of skill and knowledge.
referent
This is the result of a person’s perceived attractiveness, worthiness and right to others’ respect.
coercive
This comes from the belief that a person can punish others for noncompliance.
6 years after Raven described the 5 types of power, he added an extra power base
Informational – This results from a person’s ability to control the information that others need to accomplish something.
Research support for normative influence
strength
- Nolan 2008
- Energy use habits
- Significant decrease in energy usage after putting signs up(some signs said other people are doing it too and the other just said please stop)
conformity (majority influence) can lead to social change through NSI → valid explanation
counterpoint to Research support for normative influence
limitation
- Some behaviour is not always changed
- Foxcroft 2015
- Cochrane collaboration
- Small reduction in drinking quantity
- No effect on drinking frequency
Normative influence doesn’t always produce long term social change.
