Social Change Flashcards
what is social change?
2
when society alters their beliefs, attitudes and behaviours to create new social norms (expected ways of behaving)
examples of people who have brought about social change through minority influence…
• Martin Luther King — civil rights movement
• Rosa Parks — bus boycott
• The Suffragettes — votes for women
social change through majority influence
5
research suggests that behavioural choices are often related to group norms and subject to NSI
if people perceive something to be the norm, then they tend to alter their behaviour and attitudes to fit that norm
behaviour is based more on what we think others believe and do (the perceived norm) rather than what they actually believe and do (the actual norm)
so if we are exposed to the real majority position we are likely to adopt that position ourselves
for example, a study has found that when adolescents are exposed to the fact that most of their peers don’t smoke, they are less likely to take up smoking themselves
social change through minority influence
3
if someone is exposed to a persuasive argument under certain conditions they may change their views
Moscovici referred to this process as conversion and believed that it is vital for social change from a minority group
there are 5 stages involved in conversion…
- drawing attention to the issue
- cognitive conflict
- consistency of position
- augmentation principle
- snowball effect
1) drawing attention to the issue
1
can be achieved through protests, demonstrations, posters, etc
2) cognitive conflict
3
if the minority’s views are different to those held by the majority, this will create conflict between what the majority currently believe and what the minority are advocating for
the majority is motivated to reduce this conflict
does not necessarily result in a move towards the minority position but does mean that the majority must at least consider the issue being raised
3) consistency of position
2
Moscovici demonstrated that minority groups tend to be more influential and more likely to bring about social change when they express their arguments consistently
demonstrating consistency generally takes time — for example, in 2016 gay marriage was finally legalised in the whole of the US after decades of protests
4) the augmentation principle
3
if a minority appears willing to suffer for their views then they are perceived to be committed and more likely to be taken seriously
their influence becomes more powerful, it becomes augmented
for example, Nelson Mandela campaigned to end apartheid in South Africa and spent 27 years in prison
5) the snowball effect
3
minority influence initially has a relatively small effect but this influence spreads more widely as more people consider the issues being promoted and adopt those ideas
a tipping point is eventually reached where minority influence becomes majority influence, which leads to widescale social change
legislation may follow if appropriate
real life example of this process
6
SUFFRAGETTES
- DRAW ATTENTION — used a variety of educational, political and militant tactics to highlight the fact that women were denied the same political right as men (e.g. protests, lobbying, demonstrations)
- COGNITIVE CONFLICT — this created conflict because they were advocating for a different political voting arrangement to that already in place, some dismissed the suffragettes while others moved towards their position
- CONSISTENCY — they did not change their position regardless of attitudes towards them, protests and lobbying continued for years until their achieved their goals, arguably a key factor in their success
- AUGMENTATION — willing to suffer to make their point heard, resulting in people taking them more seriously (e.g. they risked imprisonment or even death from hunger strikes)
- SNOWBALL EFFECT — initially only a few supported their ideas but more and more people began to join until eventually it became a view held by the majority and could no longer be avoided
in 1918, a law passed allowing some women to vote and in 1928, everyone over the age of 18 got the vote
x3 evaluation points
real life application
support from Moscovici
an oversimplified process
EVALUATION
real life application
5
support for this theory can be gained from real life examples of social change
process of conversion can be seen in the suffragettes, who were a successful minority group demonstrating all the stages needed for conversion to occur and eventually achieved social change
for example, they drew attention to their issue by using a variety of educational, political and militant tactics to highlight the fact that women were denied the same political right as men (e.g. protests)
the suffragettes also demonstrated the augmentation principle as they were willing to suffer to make their point heard which resulted in people taking them more seriously (e.g. risking imprisonment or even death from hunger strikes)
therefore, the theory can claim reliability as it is supported by a real life example, suggesting it is accurate in explaining how minority groups can achieve social change
EVALUATION
support from Moscovici
7
a study by Moscovici provides a support for the importance of consistency (the third stage of conversion)
in his study, participants were shown a series of 36 blue slides and asked to judge the colour of each slide
in the consistent condition confederates repeatedly called the blue slides green on every trial, but in the inconsistent condition, confederates only called the blue slides green on 2/3 of trials
he found that when the confederates were consistent, the genuine participants agreed that the slides were green on over 8% of the trials
when they were inconsistent, they exerted very little influence and failed to influence the participants’ answers (only 1.25% said green)
suggests that a consistent minority is far more influential than an inconsistent one
therefore, the theory can be said to be very useful in explaining social change as social influence research like Moscovici’s has highlighted the importance of each stage
EVALUATION
an oversimplified process
5
it may be an oversimplification to suggest that social change can be achieved in just 5 steps
in particular, the third stage of consistency is widely debated as many argue it is vital for a minority group to be more than just consistent
for example, an inflexible minority will alienate the majority so cannot move onto the next step
the issue must also be relevant to society — for example, in the 1950s being gay was classified as a mental illness so society would not have been ready to accept gay marriage and any attempts to change their minds would’ve been unsuccessful
this suggests that other factors need to be considered by explaining social change and since the theory does not adequately consider these, it may be limited in its ability to explain social change
