Social Influence

Question 1

Social psychology definition

Answer 1

looks at the relationships between people and how people affect each other’s behaviour - social influence

Question 2

Conformity definition

Answer 2

a form of social influence where a person changes their behaviour, attitudes or beliefs so that they are in line with the majority.

This occurs because of pressure from the majority which can be real or imagined

Question 3

Compliance definition

Answer 3

when individuals adjust the behaviour, attitudes or beliefs they show in public, so that they are in line with the majority.

There is no change to private behavior, attitudes or beliefs and conformity only lasts while the group is present.

It is a superficial and temporary form of conformity.

Question 4

Internalisation definition

Answer 4

when individuals adjust their behavior, attitudes or beliefs, publicly AND privately, so that they are in line with the majority.

The individual examines their own behavior, attitudes or beliefs based on what others are saying and decides that the majority is correct. This is deeper than compliance and more permanent.

Question 5

Identification definition

Answer 5

when an individual accepts social influence because they want to be associated with a role model or a social group.

By adopting the role model/group’s behavior, attitudes or beliefs they feel connected to the role model/group.

Question 6

What are the 2 explanations for conformity (Deutsch and Gerrard)

Answer 6

Normative social influence

Informational social influence

Question 7

Normative Social Influence

Answer 7

People have a fundamental need for social approval and acceptance.

We avoid any behaviour that will make others reject or ridicule us. This can lead us to copy the behaviour of others in order to ‘fit in’.

Studies have shown that people like those who are similar to them and so conformity can be an effective strategy to ensure we fit in with a group.

Normative social influence is likely to lead to compliance, where people will agree publically with the group but privately they do not change their personal opinions.

Question 8

Informational Social Influence

Answer 8

People have a fundamental need to be right and to have an accurate perception of reality. Individuals may make objective tests against reality (e.g. check the facts) but if this is not possible they will rely on the opinions of others to check if they are correct and then use this as evidence about reality.

Informational social influence is more likely to happen if the situation is ambiguous (the correct answer is not clear) or when others are experts

It leads to internalisation, where people publically AND privately change their opinions.

Question 9

Advantages of Normative and Informational Social Influence

Answer 9

Advantages:
1) Asch asked participants to say which of three ‘test lines’ was the same as the ‘standard line’. The participants were in a group with confederates who purposefully gave the same wrong answer, even though the correct answer was obvious. In 33% of the trials the participants conformed to the group and gave the wrong answer (the chance of making a genuine mistake on this task was only 1%). Participants conformed due to normative social influence. After the experiment they claimed that they knew the correct answer but were worried that the group would ridicule them if they answered differently to everyone else.

2) Jenness asked participant to estimate how many beans they thought were in a jar. Each participant had to make an individual estimate first, and then do the same as a group. He found that when the task was carried out in a group, the participants would report estimates of roughly the same value (even though they had previously reported quite different estimates as individuals).This is likely to be an example of informational social influence as participants would be uncertain about the actual number of beans in the jar and so be genuinely influenced by the group.

3) Sherif used the autokinetic effect to investigate conformity. This is where a small spot of light (projected onto a screen) in a dark room will appear to move, even though it is still (illusion) It was discovered that when participants were tested individually their estimates of how far the light actually moved varied considerably. The participants were then tested in groups of three. Sherif manipulated the composition of the group by putting together two people whose estimate of the light movement when alone was very similar, and one person whose estimate was very different. Each person in the group had to say aloud how far they thought the light had moved. Sherif found that over numerous estimates of the movement of light, the group converged to a common estimate. The person whose estimate of movement was greatly different to the other two in the group conformed to the view of the other two because of informational social influence. The task was ambiguous so they looked to others for the answer.

Question 10

Disadvantages of Normative and Informational Social Influence

Answer 10

1) McLeod suggested that there is a third explanation for conformity, not included in this theory, known as ingratiational conformity. This is similar to normative social influence, but group influence does not enter into the decision to conform. It is instead motivated by the need to impress or gain favour, rather than the fear of rejection

2) Dispositional factors (i.e. personality traits) may also impact whether or not a person conforms. People with an internal locus of control are less likely to conform than those with an external locus of control. Normative social influence and informational social influence cannot explain this finding. A person’s locus of control refers to the extent to which they believe they have control over their own behaviour. People with an internal locus of control believe that what occurs in their life is the result of their own behaviour and actions. People with an external locus of control believe strongly that what happens in their lives is outside of their control.

Question 11

Asch’s investigation into variables affecting conformity - Procedure

Answer 11

placed a naïve participant (they do not know what the experiment is about) in a group with several confederates (people who pretend to be participants but are actually part of the experiment).

The group was asked to look at a ‘standard line’ and then decide individually which of three other ‘test lines’ was the same length as the standard line, without discussing it with one another. They then gave their responses one at a time out loud.

The answer was obvious; however, the confederates gave the wrong answer on 12/18 trials.

The naïve participant was the last, or second to last, one to give their response so they heard the rest of the groups’ responses before giving their own.

Question 12

Asch’s investigation into variables affecting conformity - findings

Answer 12

The chance of making a genuine mistake on this task was only 1% but 33% of the responses given by participants were incorrect.

75% of participants conformed in at least one of the 18 trials.

5% of participants conformed on every trial

25% did not conform on any trial.

When Asch interviewed his participants afterwards he discovered that the majority of participants who had conformed had continued to trust their own judgment but gave the same answer as the group to avoid disapproval (normative social influence).

Question 13

Asch’s investigation into variables affecting conformity - changing group size

Answer 13

Groups with one confederate had a conformity rate of 3%.

Groups with two confederates had a conformity rate of 13%.

Groups with three confederates conformity rose significantly to 32%.

It appears that we can resist the influence of two people fairly easily, but three people are much harder to resist. There was little change to conformity once groups have reached four or more confederates.

Question 14

Asch’s investigation into variables affecting conformity - task difficulty

Answer 14

He made the test lines more similar in length.

The level of conformity increased, possibly because informational social influence was starting to have an impact. This is because when we are uncertain, we look to others for confirmation.

The more difficult the task became the greater the informational social influence and the conformity.

Question 15

Asch’s investigation into variables affecting conformity - unanimity

Answer 15

When the group had unanimity (everyone agreed) conformity increased.

However, when only one other person in the group gave a different answer from the others, meaning that the group was not unanimous, conformity dropped.

Asch found that even the presence of just one confederate who went against the majority reduced conformity from 33% to 5%.

Even when the confederate gave a different wrong answer to the rest of the group conformity dropped from 33% to 9%.

Question 16

Evaluation of Asch

Answer 16

Disadvantages:

1) Asch may not have temporal validity. The study was conducted 80 years ago and it is possible that people may have been more conformist then than they are now. Post-war attitudes that people should work together and consent rather than dissent may have affected the results.

2) The task given to the participants, to match line lengths, is artificial and unlikely to occur in real life. Conformity usually takes place in a social context, often with people we know rather than strangers. The study lacks mundane realism and ecological validity

3) This study is gender biased as the sample only contained male participants so the study may not represent female behaviour.It is also culturally biased as it only included white American men and may not reflect the behaviour of other cultures. However, this study has since been replicated with different samples and cultures, and has proven to be reliable

4) Asch used a volunteer sample whose behaviour may not represent that of a wider population. This means the study does not have population validity and the results cannot be generalised to the wider population.

5) Ethical issues with this study include deception (participants believed they were taking part in a test of perception), lack of informed consent (participants did not agree to take part in a study about conformity) and psychological harm (participants were put in a stressful and embarrassing situation). However, it was necessary to deceive participants about the purpose of the study to prevent demand characteristics which would make the study not valid

Question 17

Social Roles

Answer 17

the behaviours expected of an individual who occupies a social position or status.

People can conform to the social roles assigned to them.

Question 18

Zimbardo’s investigation- conformity to social roles - procedure

Answer 18

Wanted to investigate whether conformity to social roles would alter a person’s behaviour.

A simulated prison was created in the basement of the Stanford University Psychology department.

24 emotionally and psychologically stable young men were recruited and randomly assigned to the role of prisoner or guard.

The guards had complete control over the prisoners who were confined to their cells around the clock except for meals, toilet privileges, head counts and work.

The guards were told to maintain order using any means necessary, except for physical violence.

Question 19

Zimbardo’s investigation- conformity to social roles - findings

Answer 19

On the second day the prisoners tried to rebel, they ripped off their prison numbers and barricaded themselves in their cell.

The guards sprayed them with carbon dioxide, stripped them naked, took their beds away and forced the ringleaders into solitary confinement.

Over the next few days the guards became increasingly cruel and aggressive, creating a brutal atmosphere.

Prisoners became passive and depressed as the guards used verbal abuse, forced them to do repeated press ups, pushed them into urinals and left them in a pitch black cupboard for hours.

The guards became so aggressive that the study had to be ended after only six days (it was meant to last two weeks), because of concerns about the psychological health of the prisoners, who were showing signs of severe distress.

Question 20

Evaluation of Zimbardo’s study

Answer 20

Disadvantages
1) The study was highly unethical as prisoners were subjected to psychological harm. Five prisoners had to be released early because of their extreme reactions, such as crying, rage and acute anxiety. However, Zimbardo did not expect the guards to behave in the way they did so this harm could not have been anticipated

2) Zimbardo took on the role of prison warden, became very involved in the experiment and lost his objectivity. He had to be told by a colleague to end the experiment because of concerns over the distress of the prisoners. This means the validity of the findings can be questioned.

3) The sample was unrepresentative as all the participants were white (with one exception), young, middle class, male students from Stanford University. Therefore, the results cannot be generalised to women (gender bias) or other cultures (cultural bias).

4) The guards may have behaved the way they did due to demand characteristics; some of the participants reported afterwards that they thought that the experimenters wanted them to behave aggressively, and this is why they behaved the way they did. This means the study is not valid.

5) Some of the guards did not conform to the role given to them and were very reluctant to become involved in cruelty towards the prisoners, whereas other guards were very abusive. This seems to suggest that individual differences are important in determining the extent to which participants will conform to social roles.

Question 21

Obedience

Answer 21

behaving as instructed to by an authority figure.

Authority figures have status and/or power over others.

Question 22

Milgram’s experiment - obedience to authority- procedure

Answer 22

Milgram placed an advert in a newspaper asking for male participants to take part in a study about the effect of punishment on learning.

40 participants were invited to the Psychology Department of Yale University and were met by the experimenter, a man in a white laboratory coat, who was really a confederate.

They were introduced to a 47-year-old man whom they were told was another participant called Mr. Wallace.

Mr. Wallace was also a confederate who pretended to have a weak heart. Mr. Wallace and the participant were asked to pick notes out of a hat to determine whether they would play the role of a teacher or a learner in the experiment. This was set up so that Mr. Wallace was always the learner and the naïve participant was always the teacher. The participant was then told that his role as teacher was to punish the learner if they made a mistake on a memory test by administering an electric shock, increasing the voltage each time the learner made a mistake.

Question 23

Milgram’s experiment - obedience to authority- findings

Answer 23

100% of participants gave shocks up to 300 volts (when Mr Wallace stopped answering)

65% of participants gave electric shocks all the way up to the maximum 450 volts.

Participants felt a high level of stress during the experiments, they showed symptoms including sweating, trembling, and, in some cases, anxious and hysterical laughter. Despite this, most were obedient and willing to inflict potentially lethal shocks on a man with a weak heart.

Question 24

Evaluation of Milgram

Answer 24

Advantages:
1) Despite the ethical issues with Milgram’s study many psychologists feel that after conducting a cost-benefit analysis the study was worthwhile. We now know that most people could potentially do the same thing, leading to people taking more responsibility and not blindly following orders. The participants did not suffer any long-term emotional disturbances and most (84%) of them said they were happy to have taken part and that they had learnt something important

Disadvantages:

1) Participants were deceived about the true nature of the experiment as they were told it was about memory when it was really about obedience (this also means they did not give their informed consent to take part). Participants were also led to believe that the electric shocks they were delivering were real and that Mr Wallace was another participant who had a weak heart. However, this deception was necessary to avoid demand characteristics and increase the validity of the study.

2) During the experiment the participants became extremely distressed and may have even thought that they had killed Mr Wallace, so they were not protected from psychological harm. However, Milgram did not expect his participants to obey and so this psychological harm could not have been anticipated.

3) Several participants asked to leave the experiment but were told that they were not allowed; this violates their right to withdraw from the experiment.

4) The sample is unrepresentative as all of the participants were white American males. Therefore the results cannot be generalised to women (gender bias) or other cultures (cultural bias). However, this study has since been replicated with women and the obedience rates was not significantly different.

Question 25

Situational Variables Affecting Obedience - milgram - proximity

Answer 25

Both the teacher and the learner were seated in the same room. Obedience levels fell to 40%, as the teacher was now able to experience Mr. Wallace’s anguish directly.

In a more extreme variation, (the touch proximity variation) the teacher had to actually force the learner’s arm down onto a metal plate to administer the shocks. The obedience rate was 30%.

The proximity of the experimenter is also important. In the absent experimenter variation the experimenter left the room after giving his instructions and gave subsequent orders by telephone. The vast majority of participants missed out shocks or gave lower voltages than they were meant to. The obedience rate was 21%.

Question 26

Situational Variables Affecting Obedience - milgram - location

Answer 26

In the alternative setting variation the experiment was carried out in a rundown office in downtown Bridgeport Connecticut by an experimenter wearing casual clothes. All the other variations were carried out at Yale University. The obedience rate was 48%.

Participants reported the location of Yale University gave them confidence in the integrity of the experimenter. The lower status of the rundown office changed participants’ perception of the legitimacy of the authority of the experimenter. The experimenter had a higher authority at Yale University than in the run-down office, which led to higher obedience rates.

Question 27

Situational Variables Affecting Obedience - milgram - uniform

Answer 27

Uniforms are visible symbols of authority. Uniforms can show that someone has power and status or that someone does not have power and status (e.g. prisoner’s uniform).

Bickman asked confederates to order passersby to pick some litter off the street or move away from a bus stop. The confederates were dressed as either a guard, milkman or just in smart clothes. 90% of people obeyed the guard but only 50% obeyed the civilian. A person in a guard uniform is more likely to be obedied.

Question 28

Agentic State

Answer 28

Milgram argued that people can obey horrific orders not because of their own personalities, but because of the situation they are in.

He suggested that people following orders go from an autonomous state into an agentic state. This is called the agentic shift.

Once in an agentic state people ‘unthinkingly’ carry out orders and perceive themselves as merely the instrument of an authority figure. They believe that the authority figure is responsible for their actions (diffusion of responsibility) and so they do not follow their own conscience or feel guilt for their actions.

This state occurs because in people’s experience those in authority are usually trustworthy, orders seem reasonable at first before becoming more aggressive (gradual commitment), and people are psychologically protected from the consequences of their actions (buffers).

One explanation for why people adopt an agentic state is to maintain a positive self-image. It does not matter what negative behaviour they show, because they are not responsible for their actions.

Once a person has entered an agentic state they stay in it because they are concerned that breaking their commitment to the authority figure would seem arrogant and rude.

Milgram thought that the agentic state had developed during human evolution and is necessary for hierarchies to function in society, which prevents chaos. We live in a society where we are constantly submitting to authority figures such as parents, teachers, the police and doctors and so obedience is essential.

Question 29

Evaluation of Agentic State

Answer 29

Advantages:

1) Participants in Milgram’s experiment were less likely to shock Mr. Wallace when they were in the same room as him and could see the consequences of their actions (i.e. there were no buffers). This supports the idea of an agentic state. Being in close proximity to Mr. Wallace and seeing him in pain would have prevented some participants from going into an agentic state.

Disadvantages:
1) Without buffers people should not go into an agentic state and obey an order to harm someone. However, Mandel reported the case of Major Wilhelm Trapp. In 1942, in the Polish village of Jozefow, Major Trapp was given orders to take a large group of Jewish people to the edge of the village and have them shot. Although the members of his battalion were given the chance to say no, and be assigned to other duties, few did, and the massacre went ahead. This occurred despite the victims being in close proximity to the soldiers.

Question 30

Legitimate Authority

Answer 30

Legitimate authority is another situational explanation of obedience

it claims that we recognise our own and other people’s position in the social hierarchy and that we will obey those who have a higher position in the hierarchy than we do (e.g. they have legitimate authority).

We will not obey those who have an equal or lower position in the social hierarchy than we do.
Legitimate authority is increased by visible symbols of authority (e.g. uniform).

Legitimate authority is dependent on setting, order, system and location (e.g. the military or a prison), especially if the commands are potentially harmful or destructive.

Question 31

Evaluation of Legitimate Authority

Answer 31

Advantages:

1) Hofling found that nurses would obey a dangerous order from a doctor because they were in a hospital location. Nurses received a phone call from an unknown doctor (who was really an actor) called Dr. Smith. He asked her to administer 20 milligrams of a drug called Astroten (really just a sugar pill) to a patient. This broke hospital rules as it was twice the maximum dose (as indicated on the bottle), the instructions were given over the phone, the doctor was unknown, and the medicine was not on the stock list. 95% of nurses carried out these instructions, despite the potential danger, because doctors have legitimate authority.

2) Bickman asked confederates to order passersby to pick some litter off the street or move away from a bus stop. The confederates were dressed as either a guard, milkman or just in smart clothes. 90% of people obeyed the guard but only 50% obeyed the civilian. A person in a guard uniform is more likely to be perceived as a legitimate authority figure.

Disadvantages:
1) Legitimate authority does not explain why some people are able to resist the order of authority figures. 35% of people in Milgram’s study refused to obey the experimenter, even though he had legitimate authority in that situation.

Question 32

Authoritarian Personality

Answer 32

Adorno proposed a dispositional explanation of obedience.

Dispositional explanations of behaviour claim that individuals’ personality characteristics determine their behaviour, not situational influences in the environment.

Adorno argued that authoritarian personalities are more likely to obey authority figures.

Authoritarian personalities have a collection of traits which make them more obedient. These include;
- servile towards people of perceived higher status,
- hostile towards people of lower status (scapegoating),
- preoccupied with power,
- inflexible in their beliefs and values,
- conformist and conventional (e.g. rule following),
- likely to categorise people as ‘us’ or ‘them’,
- dogmatic (intolerant of ambiguity).

Adorno thought that people developed these personalities due to receiving extremely strict/rigid parenting, usually involving physical punishment. This creates feelings of hostility which are displaced onto weaker others who cannot fight back and are therefore safe. They cannot take out their anger on their parents because they fear them, so instead they repress their anger and act in a submissive way towards them. They then extend this submissive behaviour to all authority figures.

Adorno developed a questionnaire to measure authoritarian personalities called the F (Fascism) scale. Participants are asked to rate how much they agree with statements such as ‘obedience and respect for authority are important virtues children should learn’ and ‘rules are there to follow, not to be changed’.

Question 33

Evaluation of Authoritarian Personality

Answer 33

Advantages:
1) Miller found that people who scored high on the F Scale were more likely to obey an order to hold onto some electric wiring while working on an arithmetic problem, compared to people who scored low on the F Scale.

2) Altemeyer ordered participants to give themselves increasing levels of electric shocks when they made a mistake on a learning task. There was a significant correlation between those willing to shock themselves and high scores on the F Scale.

Disadvantages:
1) Situational variables may be more important than dispositional ones. Milgram has conducted several variations of his original experiments with vastly different results. Obedience was 100% when Mr Wallace made no noise (e.g. no screams or requests to leave). However, the obedience rate was 0% when there were two authority figures who disagreed with each other (one wanted the teacher to continue, the other wanted them to stop).

2) Dispositional explanations cannot explain obedience in entire societies, because authoritarian personalities are not common. Far fewer than 65% of people have authoritarian personalities, so it cannot be the only explanation for the level of obedience found in the original Milgram study.

3) It is possible that rather than authoritarian personality causing obedience, a lack of education causes an authoritarian personality AND obedience. Middendorp and Meleon have found that less educated people are more likely to have an authoritarian personality and Milgram found that participants with lower levels of education were more obedient.

Question 34

Resistance to Social Influence

Answer 34

The pressure to conform and/or obey can exert powerful influences over peoples’ behaviour. For example, in Milgram’s study 65% of people obeyed and Asch found that 75% of people conformed at least once.

However, in both of these studies some people managed to resist the pressure to conform (non-conformity) or obey (disobedience). For example, 35% of people in Milgram’s study refused to obey and 25% of the participants in Asch’s study did not conform on a single trial.

Question 35

Social Support Theory

Answer 35

Social support is a situational explanation of resistance to social influence.

It argues that when one person refuses to conform/obey it makes it far more likely that other people will also resist social influence and refuse to conform/obey.

People are more likely to not conform if they have an ally who resists social influence and refuses to conform. This is because the ally refusing to conform breaks the unanimity of the group and groups are far more influential if they are unanimous.

When unanimity is broken people start to think that there are other, equally legitimate, ways of thinking or responding. The presence of an ally gives them an independent assessment of reality and makes them feel more confident in their decision and better able to stand up to the majority.

People are also more likely to defy an authority figure if they see a disobedient role model refusing to obey. This is because when a person rejects the instructions of an authority figure it challenges that authority figure’s legitimate authority.

Question 36

Evaluation of Social Support Theory

Answer 36

Advantages:
1) Milgram asked participants to deliver electric shocks to a confederate, Mr. Wallace, when he got a question wrong. The shocks were not real, but the participants believed they were. 65% of participants shocked Mr. Wallace up to 450 volts. However, when there was another confederate who acted as a disobedient role model and refused to shock Mr. Wallace, only 10% of the participants delivered electric shocks up to 450 volts.

2) Asch asked participants to say which of three ‘test lines’ was the same as the ‘standard line’. The participants were in a group with confederates who purposefully gave the same wrong answer, even though the correct answer was obvious. In 33% of the trials the participants conformed to the group and gave the wrong answer (the chance of making a genuine mistake on this task was only 1%). However, conformity dropped to 5% when one confederate acted as an ally to the participant and gave the right answer.

Disadvantages:
1) In both of the original versions of the studies outlined above some participants were able to resist social influence and refuse to conform/obey, even though they had no social support. This means that social support is not a complete explanation of resistance to social influence, other factors, such as personality traits, also play a part in allowing people to refuse to conform/obey.

Question 37

Minority Influence

Answer 37

Minority influence occurs very persuasive small groups, or even individuals, can change the way the majority behaves and thinks. This is known as minority influence.

Moscovici considered minority influence to lead to conversion. Conversion is when individuals change their private beliefs and views because of minority influence.
Minority groups are most likely to be convincing when they are;
- Committed - Commitment is shown when members of the minority
demonstrate their dedication to their belief, perhaps by making sacrifices (augmentation principle), taking risks or being inconvenienced in some way. This shows that the minority is not acting out of self- interest.
- Consistent – Consistency occurs when a minority repeatedly gives the same message over time. This makes a majority reassess their belief and consider the issue more carefully.
- Flexible - Flexibility/being non-dogmatic is when a minority show they are willing to listen to other viewpoints, negotiate and compromise. The majority will then listen to the minority point of view/take their argument more seriously.

Question 38

snowball effect

Answer 38

Minority influence initially has a small effect but then spreads as more and more people consider the issue being raised and are converted to the minority viewpoint. Eventually it reaches a tipping point, where the minority becomes the majority.

Question 39

social crypto-amnesia

Answer 39

Minority influence is a slow process and may even be unconscious. Sometimes the individual is not even aware of where the new idea originated from,

Question 40

Evaluation of Minority Influence

Answer 40

Advantages:
1) Moscovici told 172 female participants that they were taking part in a colour perception task. The naïve participants were placed in groups of six and were shown 36 slides, which were varying shades of blue. Two of the six participants were confederates. The participants had to state out loud the colour of each slide. In the consistent condition the confederates said the slide was green in all 36 trials. In the inconsistent condition the confederates said that 24 of the slides were green and 12 were blue. In the consistent condition participants were swayed by the minority 8.2% of the time. In the inconsistent condition the participants only went along with the minority 1.25% of the time. This shows that a consistent minority is more effective than an inconsistent minority.

Disadvantages:

1) the samples of studies into minority influence are gender biased. For example, Moscovici only used women. As a result, we cannot conclude that male participants would respond to minority influence in the same way. Research often suggests that women are more likely to conform than men, therefore further research is needed to determine the effect of minority influence on male participants.

2) The samples of studies into minority influence are also culturally biased because all of the participants were from America. As a result, the findings cannot be generalised to other populations. We cannot conclude that participants from other cultures would respond to minority influence in the same way.

3) Most of the studies into minority influence are based on experiments conducted in laboratories. This raises the question of ecological validity. The participants in laboratory experiments are usually a collection of students who do not know each other, and will probably never meet again.

4) Studies into minority influence have been criticised for deceiving participants. In Moscovici’s study participants were told that they were taking part in a colour perception test. This also means that Moscovici did not gain participants informed consent. Although it is seen as unethical to deceive participants, Moscovici’s experiment required deception in order to achieve valid results. If participants were aware of the true aim of the experiment, they might have displayed demand characteristics and acted differently.

Question 41

Social Change

Answer 41

Social Change
Social change refers to the change that occurs in a society and not at an individual level. For example, equal rights for homosexual couples, increases in recycling rates, the smoking ban for public places, and women gaining the vote. Social change occurs when the minority view challenges the majority view and is eventually accepted by the majority

Minority groups bring about social change by being;
- Committed - Commitment is shown when members of the minority
demonstrate their dedication to their belief, perhaps by making sacrifices (augmentation principle) or being inconvenienced in some way. This shows that the minority is not acting out of self-interest.
- Consistent – Consistency occurs when a minority repeatedly gives the same message. This makes a majority reassess their belief and consider the issue more carefully.
- Flexible - Flexibility/being non-dogmatic is when a minority show they are willing to listen to other viewpoints. The majority will then listen to the minority point of view/take their argument more seriously.

snowball effect

socio-crypto amnesia

Once the majority has accepted the minority viewpoint people may conform to this viewpoint due to normative social influence (compliance) and/or informational social influence (internalisation).

Governments/lawmakers can bring about social change through power and through the process of obedience. For example, changing the law to allow gay marriage could mean that people may be more accepting of homosexual rights because changes in the law make a behaviour a social norm which others then adopt.

Dictators can also bring about social change through obedience. This leads to groups of people changing their behaviour because of the fear of punishment/consequences of not obeying.