AO1

• Define Social Change

  -When a whole society adopts a new belief or way of behaving which then becomes widely accepted as the ‘norm’.

  -Social change can be positive or negative.
• What is the first step of the minority in creating social change

  -DRAWING ATTENTION:the minority highlights their point of view.
• What is the second step?

  -CONSISTENCY of position: the minority expresses the same messages and arguments over time. Synchronic (same as everyone else) and diachronic (over time).
• 3rd step

  -DEEPER UNDERSTANDING: causes people to start thinking about the issue as it is different.
• 4th step

  -AUGMENTATION PRINCIPLE : minority are seen to make sacrifices and risks to show their commitment to their view which makes it more powerful.
• 5th step?

  -SNOWBALL EFFECT: view slowly spreads across majority until it becomes the norm.
• 6th step?

  -SOCIAL CRYPTOMNESIA: people forget the events that led to social change.
• Outline how conformity research supports social change

  -Environmental and health campaigns use knowledge of conformity by appealing to normative social influence. ​

  -These campaigns provide information about what the majority are doing to encourage social change.
• Zimbardo suggested

  -obedience can be used to create social change through gradual commitment.
• What is the foot in the door technique

  -start with a minor request and then gradually make larger requests.​

  -If we obey one small order, we are much more likely to obey a larger one. ​

  -E.g. charity work.