Social Change

Question 1

What are 8 forces of social changes with examples?

Answer 1

1) Geography (hurricane sandy or Sendai earthquake)
2) External Events (9/11 or WWII)
3) Technology (the Internet, phones)
4) Charismatic Leadership (Hitler)
5) Elites (G8, Bill Gates)
6) Population (Obama’s election)
7) Tradition (Catholic church, old people)
8) Expense (Asian diets, Great Depression)

Question 2

Alienation vs conformity

Answer 2

Alienation:
-does not share the major values of society
-can create anarchists
-can create people with outstanding ideas to change society
Conformity:
-act of maintaining a certain degree of similarity to others in society
-tends to stifle social change because everyone is behaving the same way
-pressure to conform can result in racism, bullying and sexism

Question 3

Informational influence vs normative influence

Answer 3

Informational influence: The human desire to accept information that another admired person tells us is valid
Normative influence: The pressure to conform to the positive expectations of others

Question 4

Does social continuity truly exist?

Answer 4

Social continuity is not truly the absence of change because change is always happening. However, social continuity means there are structures within society which are built to resist change. Ex. Catholic Church