Occurs when a society as a whole adopts new beliefs or behaviours which then become widely accepted as the ‘norm’
Methods that bring about Social Change:
Education, persuasion and brute force
What are the 5 social processes which can trigger social change?
Consistency of the minority
Commitment
Flexibility
Snowball effect / Social Crypto-amnesia
Conformity
Consistency of the majority:
They didn’t give up and they stuck to the key message of their cause. They fought from 1903, until women were given the vote in 1918. The key aim of the movement was consistent over time (diachronic consistency) and between the members of the group (synchronic consistency).
Commitment:
A number of women willing to be imprisoned and put themselves in harms way and/or face social stigma in support of the suffragette movement. This showed great commitment to the cause.
Flexibility:
When the war came in 1914, the women temporarily stopped their campaigning so they could help with the war effort.
Snowball effect:
Once change began to happen, it accelerated quickly. Gradually the minority view became majority view.
Social crypto-amnesia:
After being successfully persuaded by minority, people tend to forget where these new views came from. Social crypto-amnesia often occurs when a person held negative views of the minority whose views they have come to adopt.
