social change through majority influence

Question 1

what is the social norms approach?

Answer 1

this approach by Perkins and Berkowitz suggests that if people perceive a behaviour to be the norm, they will adjust their own to fit in with this.
behaviour is based on what people think others are doing (perceived norm) rather than their real beliefs/actions (actual norm) . the gap between perceived norm and actual norm is called misconception, and it is the basis of social norms interventions to fix this.

Question 2

what are social norms interventions?

Answer 2

they identify widespread misconceptions relating to a risky behaviour within a target population.
perception correction strategies can then be used in the form of media campaigns/promotional videos. they are used to advertise to the target population the actual norm concerning that particular behaviour.
this should then encourage people to bring their behaviour in line with the actual norm/behaviour of their peers (ie make them conform)

Question 3

what is a real life example of social norms interventions?/ a strength

Answer 3

a social norms intervention called ‘most of us dont drink and drive’ was designed to reduce drink driving in young adults in Montana.
a survey found that 20% of these young adults reported having driven wihtin an hour of consuming 2+ drinks. ACTUAL NORM
however, 92% of respondants thought the majority of their peers had. PERCEIVED NORM
to correct this misconception an ad was released saying ‘4/5 montana young adults dont drink and drive.’ by correcting this misconception about drink driving, the prevalance of reported incidents was reduced by 13%.
STRENGTH: evidence that social norms approach has been successful and normative social influence can bring social change

Question 4

what is a limitation of majority influence bringing about social change? (boomerang)

Answer 4

it can have the boomerang effect. although it is aimed at people with undesirable behaviour, it is also seen and processed by those with normal/desirable behaviour. for example, Schulz found that a social norms campaign about low energy users has the intention of encouraging high energy users to decrease their useage, but actually low users increased their usage. this is a limitation because it shows it can bring social change, but it can be negative and not beneficial for society

Question 5

what is a limitation of majority influence bringing about social change? (dont all work)

Answer 5

DeJong et al tested the effectiveness of social norms marketing campaigns to reduce alcohol consumption of students across 3 different colleges. surveys sent through the post at the start and 3 years after the campaign finished. despite the normative social influence trying to change their misconceptions about drinking norms, students in the social norms condition didnt show lower perceptions of student drinking, nor did they self report lower consumptions.
didnt change