Social Change

• define social change

  • the ways in which a society developed over time to replace believes, attitudes and behaviour with new norms and expectations
• what are the first two steps to social change?

  • Drawing attention – in order for a social change to occur, the majority must first of all be made aware of the need for the change.
  • Consistency – displaying consistency of viewpoint and intended outcome is beneficial in bringing about social change, as a consistent message appears more credible and can help to convince a majority.
• what are the second two steps to social change?

  • The Augmentation Principle – when the majority pays attention to selfless and risky actions being taken by the minority group and is more likely to integrate the group’s opinion into their own personal viewpoints due to the personal sacrifice made by the minority.
  • Deeper Processing – the more people think about the issue at hand, rather than blindly accepting it, the more they will, in turn, be able to challenge the existing social norms to bring about change.
• what are the last two steps to social change?

  • The Snowball Effect – once the minority viewpoint has got the attention of some of the majority group members, more and more people begin paying attention and the minority viewpoint gather momentum, much like a snowball growing in size when rolled along a snowy field.
  • Social Cryptoamnesia – the majority knows that a social change has occurred but the source of the change and the message itself have become disassociated through the process of social cryptoamnesia and they do not recall how it has happened.
• strength of social change

  • research support for the role of normative social influence as a process for social change.reseach found that the experimental group significantly lowered their energy consumption, showing that conformity can lead to positive social change.
• limitations of social change (1)

  • Reports of social change within society can involve concepts that have not been, or cannot be, tested empirically, which means they lack scientific credibility. Therefore, an idiographic approach is often taken, as there is a large amount of subjective interpretation involved in explaining the occurrences of social norms being superseded in society.
• limitations of social change (2)

  • Minority influence and majority influence may involve different levels of cognitive processing. Moscovici believes that a minority viewpoint forces individuals to think more deeply about the issue. research suggests that when a majority group is acting in a way that is different from ourselves we are forced to think even more deeply about their reasons. This, therefore, casts doubt on the validity of Moscovici’s minority influence theory