Social Influence and Social Change

• Social influence


  The effect that the words, actions, or mere presence of other people have on our thoughts, feelings, attitudes, or behaviour.
• Social change


  The way in which society has changed and is changing (and also the possibilities for future change)

  
• 1. Drawing Attention


  - If minority views are different from the majority it created conflict people want to reduce.

  - They must draw attention to their different views.
• 2. Consistency


  - Position remains consistent.

  - Always presenting the same ideas.
• 3. Deeper processing


  This activism meant that many people who had accepted the status quo began thinking deeply about the unjustness of it.
• 4. Augmentation principle


  If a minority appears willing to suffer for their views, they are seen as more committed and so taken more seriously by others.
• 5. Snowball effect


  Minority influence initially has a relatively small effect but then spreads more widely as more and more people consider the issues being promoted, until it reaches 'tipping point', at which point it leads to wide-scale change
• 6. Social cryptomnesia


  Minority roles are assimilated and seen as normal - don't know where they come from or a time where it wasn't normal.
• Gradual commitment


  - Also referred to as the 'foot-in-the-door technique'.

  - Giving in to small requests and additions to that.
• Strengths of social change

  Research support for normative influences

  - Nolan et al. investigated whether social influence led to reduction in energy consumption in a community.

  - Hung messages that most residents were trying to save energy.

  - Control group = just messages to save energy.

  - Significant decreases in 1st group.

  - Strength because shows that conformity can lead to social change through NSI.

  
  

  Minority influence explains change

  - Nemeth claims social change is due to the type of thinking that minorities inspire.

  - This thinking leads to better decisions and more creative solutions to social issues.
• Limitations of social change

  Role of deeper processing

  - Mackie says it is majority influence that may create deeper processing if you don't share their views.

  - When we find that a majority believes something different, then we are forced to think long and hard about their arguments and reasoning.

  
  

  Barriers to social change

  - Bashir et al found that their participants were less likely to behave in environmentally-friendly ways because they didn't want to be associated with stereotypical and minority environmentalists.