Social Influence & Social Change

• What is social change?

  When societies adopt new attitudes and beliefs
• What can result from social change?

  New legislation or changes to existing law
• How is social change characterized?

  It is continuous but gradual
• What is usually the driving force behind societal changes?

  Minority influence
• How do minority viewpoints affect society?

  They slowly win over the majority
• What are the six steps to social change?

  1. Drawing Attention
  2. Consistency
  3. Deeper Processing
  4. The Augmentation Principle
  5. The Snowball Effect
  6. Social Cryptomnesia
• What does "Drawing Attention" involve in social change?

  Raising awareness and providing social proof
• What is meant by "Consistency" in social change?

  Being consistent with the message and intention
• What occurs during "Deeper Processing"?

  People begin to question the majority view
• What is the "Augmentation Principle"?

  Engaging in extreme behaviors to show commitment
• What does the "Snowball Effect" refer to?

  Switching from a minority to a majority viewpoint
• What is "Social Cryptomnesia"?

  Knowing change occurred but forgetting how
• How can minorities change their beliefs and behaviors?

  Through consistency, commitment, and flexibility
• Why is social change a slow process?

  It allows change to be gradual and stable
• How do minorities influence majorities?

  Through informed social influence leading to internalisation
• How can governments bring about social change?

  By changing laws and upholding them
• What did Bashir et al (2013) find about environmentalists?

  Participants avoided eco-friendly actions
• How were environmentalists perceived according to Bashir et al (2013)?

  Judged as 'tree-huggers'
• What did Nolan et al (2008) study demonstrate?

  Conformity can lead to social change
• What was the control group in Nolan et al (2008) study?

  A message with no reference to behavior
• What does Nemeth (2009) claim about social change?

  It leads to better decisions and creative solutions
• What is divergent thinking?

  Actively searching for information and options
• Why are dissenting minorities valuable?

  They stimulate new ideas and open minds
• What did Foxcroft et al (2015) find about social norms interventions?

  Only small reductions in drinking quantity
• What does Mackie (1987) claim about majority influence?

  It may create deeper processing in dissenters
• What challenge does Mackie (1987) present to minority influence?

  It casts doubt on its validity as an explanation
• AO3 - What is a strength for Social Change?

  Research Support for Normative Influences

  • Nolan et al (2008) hung messages that most of their neighbours were trying to reduce energy usage in their area and as a control had a different message that made no reference to other people’s behaviour
  • There was a significant drop in energy usage in the first group compared to the control
  • This shows that conformity can lead to social change can lead to social change through the operation of normative social influence
• AO3 - What is a strength for Social Change?

  Minority Influence Explains Change

  • Nemeth (2009) claims social change is due to the type of thinking that minorities inspire and argues that it leads to better decisions and more creative solutions to social issues
  • When people consider minority arguments, they engage in divergent thinking, in which the thinker actively searches for information and weighs up more options
  • This shows why dissenting minorities are valuable, as they stimulate new ideas and open minds in a way that majorities cannot
• AO3 - What is a limitation for Social Change?

  Low Validity

  • Foxcroft et al (2015) reviewed social norms interventions which included 70 studies where the social norms approach was used to reduce student alcohol use
  • The researchers found that only a small reduction in drinking quantity and no effect on drinking frequency
  • Therefore it seems that using normative influence does not always produce long-term social change
• AO3 - What is a limitation for Social Change?

  Role of Deeper Processing

  • Mackie (1987) claims that the majority influence may create deeper processing if you do not share their views, rather than people thinking more deeply about the minority’s views
  • When we find that a majority believes something different, then we are forced to think long and hard about their arguments and reasoning
  • This means that a central element of minority influence has been challenged, casting doubt on its validity as an explanation of social change