Social influence and social change

• How a minority influence creates social change

  1. Drawing attention through social proof

  2. Consistency

  3. The augmentation principle/ commitment

  4. Similarity to the majority

  5. Snowball effect
• Drawing attention through social proof

  • Civil rights movement; African-Americans had to draw attention to the divide between them and white people by showing that they are segregated in schools and restaurants by protesting
• Consistency

  Found to be important for brining social change by Moscovici (green slide/blue slide experiment)
• Consistency

  • Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela Led the civil rights movements and were always consistent in their view point
• The augmentation principle/ commitment

  The minority need to display that they are highly committed to the change they are auguring for. They will need to make sacrifices and take risks to display their dedication to the case
• The augmentation principle/ commitment

  • Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white male passenger in the 1950s, she was arrested for violating US law. This event helped trigger the civil rights movement to end the racial segregation laws in America
• Similarity to the majority

  If the minority are similar in terms of class, age, gender or even sexuality, then they are more likely to be influential
• Similarity to the majority

  • Maass et al. (1982) concluded that 'straight men have more persuasive power when discussing gay rights with other straight men, in comparison to gay men
• Snowball effect

  Overtime more and more of the majority start to think more deeply about the messages displayed more of them become converted. This leads to a snowball effect
• Other social influence processes involved in social change

  • Conformity
  • Normative social influence
  • Informational social influence
  • Obedience
• Normative social influence

  Providing information about what other people are doing, making individuals think that is the norm and they will want to fit in
• Normative social influence

  • If the message '99% of teenagers are no longer shopping on fast fashion websites was published everywhere this makes more teens think that the majority are being sustainable and they want to fit in with the majority
• Informational social influence

  As a society we are learning more and more about the world, e.g. previously we did not know the earth was round because science was not as developed. However, now that we know, people understand the information and therefore start to believe in it, we want to be correct
• Obedience

  Governments/lawmakers can bring about social change through power and through the process of obedience. They can put new out new rules + laws that the public need to follow
• Obedience

  • A ban on indoor smoking would mean being that do not obey will get punished This leads to social change as more people will be likely to obey the law
• Research support for normative influence

  Nolan’s study in San Diego showed that telling residents most people were saving energy led to less energy use. It shows how conformity can drive social change.
• Counterpoint

  Foxcroft’s study on reducing student alcohol use through social norms didn't show significant results. It suggests normative influence alone may not lead to long-term changes.
• Minority influence explains change

  Nemeth says that minority opinions can change how we think because of divergent thinking, leading to creative solutions for social problems.
• Role of deeper processing

  Mackie says majority influence can trigger deeper thinking when people see differing views, questioning minority influence's impact on social change.