social influence and social change

Question 1

minority influence

Answer 1

special role in social change

eg civil rights movement in USA

Question 2

processes

Answer 2

DCDASS

draw attention - civil rights marches
consistency - presented consistent message and intent
deeper processing - others think more deeply about issue
augmentation principle - taking risks
snowball effect - minority grows to become majority
social cryptomnesia - people forget source of change

Question 3

conformity

Answer 3

normative social influence - people change their behaviour because they believe majority are too

Question 4

obedience

Answer 4

gradual commitment - people obey instructions one step at a time

Question 5

social influence

Answer 5

the process by which individuals and groups change each other’s attitudes and behaviours

includes conformity, obedience and minority influence

Question 6

social change

Answer 6

this occurs when whole societies, rather than individuals, adopt new attitudes and beliefs

Question 7

research support for normative influence

Answer 7

P - strength is research has shown that social influence processes based on psychological research do work
E - Nolen et al - aimed to see if could change people’s energy habits - hung messages on front doors of houses in San Diego every week for a month saying most residents trying to reduce energy usage - control with different messages asking to save energy
E - significant decrease in energy usage in the first group compared to control
L - conformity can lead to social change through the operation of NSI - valid explanation

P - some studies show that people’s behaviour is not always changed through exposing them to social norms
E - Foxcroft et al - reviewed social norms interventions as part of the gold standard
E - 70 studies where social norms approach used to reduce student alcohol use - only a small reduction in quantity
L - NSI does not always produce long-term social change

Question 8

minority influence explains change

Answer 8

P - strength is psychologists can explain how minority influence brings about social change
E - Nemeth - social change is due to type of thinking that minorities inspire - divergent thinking due to considering minority argument
E - allows thinker to actively search for information and weigh up options - leads to better decisions for social issues
L - shows why dissenting minorities are valuable - stimulate new ideas

Question 9

role of deeper processing

Answer 9

P - limitation is that deeper processing may not play role in how minorities bring about social change
E - some people supposedly converted because they think more deeply - Mackie disagrees - majority influence may create deeper processing if you do not share their views
E - we like to believe other people share our views so if it differs (majority disagrees with us) then we think about it
L - a central element of minority influence has been challenged, doubt on validity as an explanation