Social Influence and Social Change

Question 1

Lessons from minority influence research

Answer 1

1. drawing attention through social proof-
2. consistency
3. deeper processing of the issue
4. the augmentation principle
5. snowball effect
6. social cryptomnesia

Question 2

lessons from conformity research

Answer 2

• importance of dissent- breaks the power of the majority, encouraging others to do the same
• appealing to normative social influence- providing information about what other people are doing to make them fee guilty

Question 3

lessons from obedience research

Answer 3

• importance of disobedient role models- rate of obedience plummeted when teacher refuses to give shocks to the learner in Milgram
• Zimbardo- gradual commitment, once a small instruction is obeyed it becomes more difficult to resist a bigger one

Question 4

Research Support for normative influences

strength

Answer 4

• Nolan aimed to see if she could changed peoples energy usage habits- told people that other residents were cutting down on energy usage. as a control some had a message just to cut down with no mention of other people
• significant decreases in energy usage in the first group compared to the second
• shows that conformity can lead to social change through the operation of normative social influences

Question 5

Role of deeper processing

Limitation

Answer 5

• Deeper processing may not play a role in how minorities bring about social change
• Some research thinks that majority infuence instead creates deeper processing because we like to believe that others share our views and think the same way as us
• When the majority believes something different we are forced to think about their arguments and reasoning
• Means that the central element of minority influence has been challenged, casting doubt on its validity as an explanation of social change