Social Change Flashcards
Outline Social Change (6 marks)
When a minority has an idea, they must remain consistent by having the same belief between members of the group, over a long period of time. They must also show commitment by showing dedication and making personal sacrifices. The minority must be flexible and not rigid by compromising to change the majority opinion. If the minority remain consistent, committed and flexible in their views then they can publicly and privately change the beliefs of the majority, leading to internalisation. Once a few members of the majority start to move to the minority, the influence begins to gather momentum as more people pay attention, this is the snowball effect. This leads to social crypto -amnesia where the majority remembers the minority idea but not that the idea came from the minority group. Social change has occurred where there is a change in society’s attitudes, behaviours and laws.
Discuss Social Change (3 X AO3)
To evaluate, some critics argue that social change through minority influence may be limited as social change does not occur quickly. This is because there is a tendency for human beings to conform to the majority position and maintain status quo, rather than engage in social change. Therefore, this suggests that a minority often creates the potential for social change, rather than a social change itself.
There is real life evidence to support the role of minority influence in social influence processes in social change from the suffragette movement. The minority group of women showed consistency by having the same belief that women should have equal rights between all members, over a long period of time. They showed dedication by going on hunger strike and they were flexible as they accepted women having a vote at the age of 30 and then continued to campaign. The majority internalised the idea that women should have equal rights and now society’s attitudes, behaviours and laws have changed, thus demonstrating the role of social influence process in social change in the real world.
Research to support the role of minority influence in social influence processes involved in social change is research from Moscovici. Two confederates sat with a majority group of six participants, they were shown blue slides and had to state the colour. When the minority consistently called the blue slides green, participants gave the same wrong answer 8% of the time; however when the minority group inconsistently called the blue slides green, agreement fell to 1%. Therefore, this shows the importance of a minority showing a consistent argument to create social change.
