Social change is when a society or section of societies adopt a new belief or way of behaving which then becomes widely accepted as normal
Social norms intervention is the attempt to correct misperceptions of the normative behaviour of peers in an attempt to change the risk behaviour of a target population (eg, Suffragettes and LGBTQ)
Moscovici referred to a person's opinion being changed by others as a conversion, which was necessary for social change
Process of social change
Drawing attention to an issue
Cognitive conflict
Consistency of position
The augmentation principle
The snowball effect
Drawing attention to an issue
Considers the issue, conflicting opinions and how to reduce these, and what tactics could be used to draw attention to the issue
Cognitive Conflict
There will be a conflict between the minority and the majority
The majority will typically start to think more deeply about the issues presented
EG, the existing status quo (men are majority) and the suffragettes (Women are minority)
Consistency of position
If the argument is consistent, minorities become more influential
Protests and lobbying may continue for years
The augmentation principle
If the minority are willing to suffer for their views, they are seen as more committed
Some are willing to risk prison or death
The snowball effect
Initially, change/conversion are slow, but once they reach the tipping point, it becomes faster and more widespread
Perkins and Berkowitz - Social change through majority influence
If people perceive something to be a norm, they tend to alter their behaviour to fit in with the norm
Behaviour may be based more on what people think, believe and do rather than their real beliefs and actions
This gap between perceived and actual norm is a 'misperception' - corrected through social norms interventions
These perception correction strategies can be used in media campaigns / promotional material to convey actual norms
