social change Flashcards
What is the first step in minority influence causing social change?
Drawing attention through social proof e.g marches
Second stage - minority influence
Consistency - many marches and people involved
Third stage - minority influence
Deeper processing of the issue - people begin to consider the unjustness
Fourth step - minority influence
Augmentation principle
Risking lives for the cause
Fifth stage - snowball effect
Change from minority to majority support eg Civil Rights Act
Sixth stage - minority influence
Social cryptoamnesia - people have a memory that change occurred but don’t know how it happened
How did Asch’s research display social change?
Dissent in one variation
Broke power of majority encouraging others to dissent
How does social change occur (conformity)?
Environmental campaigns target NSI
Provide info about what others are doing - others recycle etc
Drawing attention to what majority are doing
How does social change occur (obedience)?
Milgram - importance of disobedient role models
Confederate refuses shocks - obedience plummets
Zimbardo - obedience can create change through gradual commitment
Small instruction is obeyed, harder to resist bigger one
Drift into new behaviour
Evaluation - research support for normative influences
Nolan - does social influence reduce energy consumption
Hung messages on doors - most residents trying to reduce energy usage
Control - just asked to save energy
Significant decreases in energy usage in first group
Evaluation - minority influence only indirectly effective
Social change happens slowly eg attitudes to smoking
Nemeth - effects of minority influence are indirect and delayed
Majority influenced only on matters related to issue at hand not central issue
Evaluation - role of deeper processing
Mackie - majority influence creates deeper processing not minority influence
Believe others share our views
Find majority believes differently, we think about their arguments
Central element challenged
Evaluation - barriers to social change
Bashir - why do people resist social change?
Pps less likely to be environmentally friendly due to being associated with stereotypes
Advised minorities to avoid stereotypes
Flexibility
Evaluation - methodological issues
Explanations of social change draw upon studies by Moscovici, Asch, Milgram
Methodological criticisms can be applied here
Trivial tasks etc
