Role of SI processes in social change

• social change


  change of views in society e.g homosexuality more accepted now than in the 1900s
• Social change can occur through MI
• 1. Drawing attention to issue

  • highlighting a concern/view/beliefs to society provides social proof of the issue
  • e.g the death of George Floyd was the catalyst for the BLM movement
• 2. Consistency 


  • continually displaying the same message and intent to remain strong in viewpoint
  • e.g many celebrities spoke out against the social injustice towards black people
• 3. Deeper processing


  • those who accepted the status quo begin thinking deeply about the unjustness of the situation and start to question their own views
  • e.g ppl start to question how black ppl are treated/presented in society
• 4. Augmentation principle

  • minorities take risks to further contribute to their beliefs and this commitment makes them taken more seriously
  • e.g ppl risked their lives + health to protest during a global pandemic
• 5. Snowball effect


  • ppl begin to adopt beliefs and minority group so overtime as more people convert it becomes the majority group.- social change occured
  • e.g more people joined BLM protest- black out tuesday, social media posts, removal of statues
• 6. Social cryptomnesia


  • social change occured which is noticable but the origin and processes that led to this change is forgotten by some people
• through conformity: dissenters make SC more likely

  Aschs unanimity variation showed that when 1 confed always gave correct answer, it broke the power of the majority and encouraged others to dissent- demonstrates potential for SC.
• NSI


  social chnage encouraged by drawing attention to majority behaviour e.g environmental + health campaigners exploit conformity by appealing to NSI and providing info on what others are doing
• through obedience: disobedient models make SC more likely 


  milgrams variation study introduced disobedient confeds that acted as models to pps. when 1 confed disobeyed an order the rate of obedience in pps significantly droppes.
• Gradual commitment leads to a 'drift'

  Zimbardo (2007)- once a small instruction is obeyed, it becomes more difficult to resist a bigger one. People drift into new kinds of behaviour.

  • means that when ppl obey a small order that has no effect then it becomes psychologically easier for them to obey other harsher, immoral orders which leads to unrecognisable behaviour
• strength- support for NSI in SC (nolan)


  • Nolan et al (2008) hung messages on front doors of houses with key point that most residents are trying to reduce their energy usage
  • led to significant decreases in energy usage compared to CG who saw messages to save energy but with no reference to the majority behaviour
  • shows how conformity can lead to SC through NSI
• strength- SC can have positive implications in society

  • lead to acceptance of minority rights such as womens, civil and gay rights
  • these groups are able to feel more comfortable in society and the attention drawn to these social problems has increased awareness + led to progression in society
  • e.g. UK equality act protects people from discrimination in workplace
  • such things encourage more people to work as companies more open to diverse attitudes
  • boost economic activity + therefore SC has pratical applications
• limitation- argues deeper processing applies to majority influence (Mackie)


  • Mackie (1987) disagrees with view that MI causes individuals in majority to think deeply about an issue
  • because ppl in majority generally assume that others share their views/opinions so when a majority thinks differently, this creates cognitive dissonance
  • motivates to reconsider their own views
  • this perspective implies that MI less effective in achieving SC as it doesnt stimulate the same-level of deep processing in majority influence
  • questions validity
• limitation - MI lacks immediate impact compared to majority influence when achieving social change


  • ppl may support minority view in private but refrain from publicly supporting due to fear of social rejection + desire to maintain social harmony
  • although this supports NSI in social change, it shows that NSI can increase resistance to MI and thus decrease its effectiveness in creating widespread change
  • minorities often stereotyped as different which can put off the majority or make them hesitant to convert
  • suggest majority influence may be more effective in driving immediate SC