Social Change

Question 1

what is social change

Answer 1

when a society adopts a new ay of thinking which then becomes the normality

Question 2

what are the 6 step processes involved in social change

Answer 2

1. drawing attention
2. consistency
3. deeper processing
4. the augmentation principle
5. the snowball effect
6. social cryptomnesia

Question 3

explain the deeper processing stage of social change

Answer 3

people start to question their beliefs and think deeply

Question 4

explain the augmentation principle stage of social change

Answer 4

individuals risk their lives which indicates a strong belief and reinforces their message

Question 5

explain the snowball effect stage of social change

Answer 5

more and more people support the minority position until the minority becomes the majority

Question 6

explain the social cyryptoamnesia stage of social support

Answer 6

where people have a memory that change has occured but dont know how it happened

Question 7

explain how normative social influence leads to social change finally occuring

Answer 7

• the snowball effect has occured and the majority have adopted a new way of thinking
• there will still be people who havent converted
• at this point these people are the minority and will feel the need to conform

Question 8

explain research into whether conformity was a process that led to social change

Answer 8

nolan et al

• investigated wether NSI led to social change
• they hung messages o the front door of houses
• the key message was that “most residents were trying to reduce their energy usage”
• a control group where messages just asked them to save energy without reference to other people
• a significant decrease in energy usage was found in the first group

Question 9

strength

give a PEELH for the role of social influence processes in social change

Answer 9

• P - supporting evidence for the role of NSI
• Eg - nolan et al. messages hung on participants door stating most pople were trying to reduce their energy consumption. In the control group the message simply asked people to save energy without reference to others
• Ex - this first group showed a significant decrease in energy consumption compared to a control group. this demonstrates that when people percvive behaviour as a social norm, they are more likely to adopt it
• L - this supports the idea that NSI can drive social change by encouraging individuals to conform to the majority
• H - this study lacks ecological validity

Question 10

limitation

give a PEELH for the role of social influence processes in social change

Answer 10

• P - may only lead to surface level compliance
• Eg - nolan et als study shows that social norms can change bheaviour in the short term but there is little evidence to suggest this change is sustained over the long term
• Ex - people may conform because they want to be accepeted but this doesnt trasnlate to genuine attitude change
• L - suggests that while NSI can be effective for initating social change, it may not lead to lasting changes in behaviours
• H - some interventuion combining NSI with other strategies may overcome this limitation