Social change

• What is social change?

  When whole societies rather than just individuals adopt new attitudes and beliefs as a result of minority influence
• what are the 6 stages to social change?

  1. drawing attention
  2. consistency
  3. deeper processing
  4. augmentation principle
  5. snowball effect
  6. social cryptoamnesia
• give an example of drawing attention through social proof?

  • 1950s in America
  • black separation applied to all parts of america
  • civil right marches drew attention to the situation
• give an example of consistency

  • many marches with many people taking part.
  • civil rights activists displayed consistency of message and intent
• give an example of deeper processing?

  many people started thinking about the unjustness
• give and example for augmentation principle?

  • freedom riders
  • mixed racial groups
  • got on buses to challenge the fact that black people still had to sit separately on buses.
  • many got beaten
• give an example of the snowball effect?

  • continue to press for change
  • got attention of the us government
  • prohibited discrimination with the us civil rights act
• what is social cryptomnesia?

  people have a memory that change has occurred but dont remember how it happened
• what are the lessons from conformity research?

  • in an asch variation, one confederate gave correct answers.
  • broke the power of majority.
  • environmental and health campaigns appeal to normative social influence by providing what other people are doing.
  • informational social influence- informing about harmful effects and dangers.
  • social change is encouraged by drawing attention to what the majority are doing.
• what are the lessons from obedience research?

  • in milgrams variation, a confederate teacher refused to give shocks.
  • obedience of participants dropped.
  • zimbardo- obedience creates social change through gradual commitment.
• what is gradual commitment?

  when once a small instruction is obeyed, it becomes much more difficult to resist a bigger one.

  people drift into a new kind of behaviour