Social Influence And Social Change

Question 1

What is social influence?

Answer 1

• The process by which individuals and groups change each others attitudes and behaviours e.g conformity, obedience and minority influence.

Question 2

What is social change?

Answer 2

• Occurs when whole societies adopt new attitudes, beliefs and ways of doing things.

Question 3

How to bring about change in society

Answer 3

1. Drawing attention to the issue
2. Role of conflict
3. Consistency
4. Augmentation principle
5. Snowball effect
6. Social crypto amnesia

Question 4

What is drawing attention to the issue?

Answer 4

• If exposed to minority views then this draws our attention to it.
• If view is different to majority then this causes a conflict we want to reduce.

Question 5

What is the role of conflict?

Answer 5

• Look at the minority’s argument more closely as it creates conflict with majority view. Think more deeply about it.

Question 6

What is consistency?

Answer 6

• Minorities are more influential when fighting for social change if they are consistent over time and each other. Taken more seriously as they are seen to truly believe in the cause.

Question 7

What is the augmentation principal?

Answer 7

• If there are risks involved in putting forward an argument then the group are taken more seriously.
• If minority members are will to take the consequences of their views, increased impact.

Question 8

What is the snowball effect?

Answer 8

• When some people in a group agree with the minority then the minority becomes more influential. Results in more people converting to the minority views.

Question 9

What is social cryptoamnesia?

Answer 9

• Public opinion changes gradually over time, until minority view is accepted as the norm but people forget where the idea originally came from.

Question 10

Evaluation of social influence and social change - research support for normative influences

Answer 10

• Research to support the role of normative social influence in social change.
• Nolan investigated the role of social influence processes on energy consumption in San Diego. Hung messages on front doors of people’s home stating that most residents were trying to reduce their energy consumption. As control, some residents just had a message asking them to save energy hung on their door without mentioning others. Found significant decrease in energy of the first group.
• Strength - shows that conformity can lead to social change through normative social influence.

Question 11

Evaluation of social influence and social change - minority influence is very delayed

Answer 11

• Is a slow process.
• It has taken decades of attitudes against drink driving and smoking to shift. Nemeth argues that the effects of minority influence are likely to be delayed. Effects may not be seen for some time.
• Weakness - effects of minority influence may be small and role in social influence is very limited.

Question 12

Evaluation of social influence and social change - methodological issues

Answer 12

• Explanations of how social influence leads to social change draw heavily upon the studies of Moscovici, Asch and Milgram. All these can be evaluated in terms of their methodology. They involve artificial tasks in lab settings.
• Weakness - raises doubts about validity.

Question 13

Evaluation of social influence and social change - role of deeper processing

Answer 13

• Evidence to suggest that minority influence does not involve deeper processing
• Moscovici decided a theory about minority influence which says that the minority and majority influence involve different cognitive processes. Minority influence causes individuals to think more deeply about an issues than majority influence.
• Diane Mackie disagree and presents that it is majority influence that may create deeper processing if you do not share their views. We believe that other people share our views and think the same way as we do. When majority believe something differently we are forced to think long and hard about their argument.
• Weakness - questions central elect of minority influence and casts doubt on the validity of Moscovici’s theory.