Social Change

• What is social change?

  • When whole societies adopt new attitudes, beliefs and ways of doing things
  • The previously widely accepted norm changes to something new
  • Utilises minority influence, encouraging an internal locust of control and disobedience to authority
• How was the African-American civil rights movement of the 1950s-60s an example of minority influence creating social change?

  • Drew attention to segregation through civil rights marches
  • Position remained consistent with millions taking part in marches over several years
  • Activism meant that people who accepted the status quo had to think deeply about its unjustness
  • Augmentation principle - lives were risked when 'freedom riders' were beaten for boarding the same buses as white people, indicating strong beliefs and reinforces their message
• How was the African-American civil rights movement of the 1950s-60s an example of minority influence creating social change? (2)

  • Snowball effect - Activists like Martin Luther King gradually got the attention of the US government as more and more people backed the civil rights movement
  • US Civil Rights Act 1964 prohibited discrimination marking the change from minority to majority support for civil rights
  • Social cryptoamnesia - some people have no memory now of the events that led to this change due to the normality of the new beliefs
• How does conformity research link to social change?

  • Asch highlighted the importance of dissenters who gave correct answers - breaking the power of the majority and encouraging others to do the same
• How does obedience research link to social change?

  • Obedience rates plummeted when teachers were joined by another disobedient confederate
  • Shows how even one person can lead to internalisation of new beliefs/ make it easier to disobey
• What research supports the use of normative social influence for social change?

  • Nolan et al. tried to change people's energy-use habits
  • Hung messages on people's doors, some residents had a message saying most other residents are also trying to reduce energy-use but some residents had a simpler message without referencing others
  • First group had significant decreases in energy use than second, showing how conformity can lead to social change making it a valid explanation
• How can minority influence explain change as a strength?

  • Nemeth claims social change is due to minority groups inspiring divergent thinking - more broad, actively searching for more information
  • This thinking leads to better decision-making and shows why dissenting minorities are valuable as they stimulate new ideas and open minds
• Why may deeper processing not play a role on how minorities bring about social change?

  • Mackie 1987 argues that it is the majority that creates deeper processing in minorities who do not share their views
  • When we find that majority beliefs are different we are forced to think long and hard about their reasoning and why so many people share the same beliefs
  • Casts doubt on a central element of minority influence and could reduce its validity as an explanation of social change
• What barriers are there to social change?

  • Bashir et al. found that participants are less likely to act eco-friendly as they didn't want to be associated with negatively stereotyped environmentalists called 'tree-huggers'
  • Shows that people still resist social change due to social barriers