Social influence and social change

Question 1

What are factors of social change ?

Answer 1

• drawing attention
• consistency
• deeper processing
• augmentation principle
• snowball affect
• social cryptomnesia

Question 2

What is the augmentation principle ?

Answer 2

Individuals risking their lives - reinforces their message

Question 3

What is social cryptomnesia ?

Answer 3

People have a memory that change has occurred but don’t remember how to happened

Question 4

How does conformity link to social change ?

Answer 4

• Asch - when one confederate gave a correct answer it broke the power of majority
• Some use NSI, to try and create a picture that the thing they want people to be doing is done by everyone

Question 5

What is a strength of social change ?

Answer 5

Minority influence explains change =
Nemeth claims change is due to the type of thinking that minorities inspire. When thinking about minorities it allows broad thinking and looking at the bigger picture

Research support for normative influences =
- Nolan
- aimed to see if they could change peoples energy use habits
- The researchers hung messages on doors every week
- there was a significant decrease in energy usage

Question 6

What is a limitation of social change ?

Answer 6

Role of deeper processing =
Mackie disagrees with all of this and says majority influence may create deeper processing if other don’t share their views
This means that central element of minority influence has been challenged, cats a doubt on valdiity