Social Change

• Social change occurs when a society adopts a new belief or behaviour which becomes widely accepted as the norm, this change could be positive or negative.
• Social change through minority influence:

  • Moscovici stated that without an outspoken minority putting forward a different way of doing things, there would be no social change.
  • Minority influence is fundamental for social change, Moscovici called the process 'conversion'.
• Social change through minority influence:

  1. Drawing attention to the issue
  2. Creation of cognitive conflict
  3. Consistency of position
  4. The Augmentation Principle
  5. The Snowball Effect
  6. The Tipping Point
• 1.Drawing attention to the issue- we pay more attention to views that are different to that of the majority
• 2.Creation of cognitive conflict- if a viewpoint opposes our own it creates a 'conflict' which we are motivated to reduce, so we pay more attention to the new majority view to try and understand it.
• 3.Consistency of position- if argument is consistent over time & within the group, then we are more likely to take it seriously.
• 4.The Augmentation Principle- if the minority show commitment to their views despite possible negative consequences, we are more likely to take them seriously, thus increasing ('augmenting') their power.
• 5.The Snowball Effect- once minority begin to persuade people round to their way of thinking, it can have a greater effect- gradually changing more people.
• 6.The Tipping Point- eventually the minority becomes the majority, when this happens, the minority opinion has become the dominant position in society- social change has occurred through the process of minority influence (anybody left is likely to change through compliance to the new majority).
• Cryptoamnesia= we forget there was ever a different norm.
• Evaluation of Social Change- Strength:

  • There is real life evidence for the successful influence of minorities over majorities.
  • Nelson Mandela led the African National Congress in a consistent & committed way against the system of segregation in South Africa.
  • He even went to jail for 27 years showing his commitment.
  • Shows there is real life evidence & this indicates to the theory that minorities can bring about social change.
• Evaluation of Social Change- Weakness:

  • Some argue that the minority does not have a direct impact on social change- people may just want to stick with the majority position, which means social change via minority influence is likely to be a slow process.
  • Eg, Suffragette movement brought about the potential for women getting the vote, but many argue WW1 was the actual changing point as women became 'necessary', whilst men were off at war.
  • Minority influence may create the potential for social change rather than bringing about social change itself.
• Evaluation of Social Change- Strength:

  • Research support for potential of minorities to influence majorities- Moscovici et al 1969 key study lends support to minority influence as an explanation of social change.
• Social Change through conformity to the majority:

  • Normative Social Influence- we base many of our behavioural choices on what we perceive the norm of the majority group to be.
  • If we go against the norm, we risk rejection from the group/ are less likely to fit in.
  • Social change can therefore be brought about by highlighting or manipulating the norms of a group- as this is underpinned by Normative Social Influence, it will lead to compliance.
• Social Norms Interventions aim to expose people to the desirable social norm, so that they change their behaviour in line with the majority group.
• Evaluation of Social Change through Minority Influence- Strength:

  • Research support for Social Norms Interventions- Linkenbach & Perks (2003) found that teenagers exposed to the message that most of their peers did not smoke, were less likely to take up smoking.
  • Indicates the validity of the theory & a real-life positive application.