Process of social change Flashcards
what is social change?
when whole societies adopt new attitudes, beliefs and ways of doing things eg civil rights
what is the process of social change?
- drawing attention
- consistency
- deeper processing
- augementation principle
- snowball effect
- social cryptomnesia
explain drawing attention
through social proof. in 1950’s black + white segregation in all parts of america. civil rights marches of this period drew attention to situation providing social proof of problem
explain consistency
civil rights activists represented a minority of american population but their position remained consistent. millions of people took part in many marches over several years
explain deeper processing
activism meant many people who had simply accepted status quo began to think deeply about unjustness of it
explain augmentation principle
individuals risked their lives numerous times. personal risk indicates strong belief and reinforces their message
explain snowball effect
activists gradually got attention of US government. more and more backed minority position
explain social cryptomnesia
people have memory that change has occured but dont remember how it happened. some people have no memory of events that led to change
asch social change
his study highlighted importance of dissenter- where one confederatre gave correct answer. this encouraged others to dissent. this is kind of thing that ultimately leads to social change.
milgram social change
in variation where confederate teacher refused to give shocks to learner, the rate of obedience in partcipants plummeted
evaluation points
S: research support from Nolan
S: psychologists can explain how minority influence brings about social change
L: deeper processing may not play a role in how minorities bring about social change.
