Social Influence And Social Change Flashcards
Outline social change
Occurs when a society or section of society adopts a new belief or way of behaving which then becomes widely accepted as the norm
State the three types of social influence which could lead to social change
- Conformity
- Obedience
- Minority influence
Define conversion
When an individual who is exposed to a persuasive argument under certain conditions changes their view to match those of the minority- a prerequisite for minority influence leading to social change
List the six stages in the conversion process
- drawing attention to issue
- cognitive conflict
- consistency
- commitment
- the snowball effect
- social cryptomnesia
Explain social norms intervention
An attempt to correct misperceptions of the normative behaviour of peers in order to change the risky behaviour of a target population
Explain misinterpretations in relation to social norms
The gap between a person’s perceived norm and the actual norm
Describe the ‘MOST of us don’t drink and drive’ campaign as evidence for influence of social norms intervention
- this campaign was designed to reduce drinking and driving among young adults in Montana, USA
- survey found that 92% of respondents believed that their peers would drink and drive
- created a simple advertisement with the message that ‘MOST montana young adults (4 out of 5) don’t drink and drive’
- after the campaign conducted, the prevalence of reported driving after drinking was reduced by 13.7%
Describe how social change can happen by challenging obedience
We need disobedient, positive role models to enable us to think independently and resist the gradual commitment to obey.
Explain gradual commitment
Once a small instruction is obeyed it becomes more difficult to resist a bigger one- people ‘drift’ into a new kind of behaviour
