social influence and social change Flashcards
social influence definition
the process by which individuals and groups change each other’s attitudes and behaviours. includes conformity, obedience and minority influence
social change definition
occurs when whole societies, rather than just individuals, adopt new attitudes, beliefs and ways of doing things. examples includes accepting earth orbits the sun, woman’s suffrage and environmental issues
how does minority influence happen
1- drawing attention (thorough social proof)
2- consistency
3-deeper processing (of the issue)
4- augmentation principle
5- snowball effect
6- social cryptomnesia
example of American civil rights movement in 1950s and 60s in minority social influence causing social change - 1 drawing attention
1-drawing attention -in 1950s black and white segregation applied to all parts of America. there were black neighbourhoods and in southern states places such as certain schools and restaurants exclusive to whites. civil marches drew attention to the situation, providing social proof of the problem
example of American civil rights movement in 1950s and 60s in minority social influence causing social change - 2 consistency
civil rights activists represented a minority of the American population, but their position remained consistent. millions took part in many marches over several years, always presenting same non-aggressive messages
example of American civil rights movement in 1950s and 60s in minority social influence causing social change - 3 deeper processing, of the issue
the activism meant that many people who had simply just accepted the status quo began to think deeply about the unjustness of it
example of American civil rights movement in 1950s and 60s in minority social influence causing social change - 4 the augmentation principle
individuals risked their lives lives numerous times. for example, freedom riders were mixed ethnic groups who boarded buses in the south, challenging racial segregation of transport. many freedom riders were beaten. this personal risk indicated a strong belief and reinforces (or arguments) their message
example of American civil rights movement in 1950s and 60s in minority social influence causing social change - 5 the snowball effect
activists such as Martin Luther King gradually got the attention of the US government. more and more people backed the minority position. in 1964 the US civil rights act prohibited discrimination, marking a change from minority to majority support for civil rights
what is social cryptomnesia
people have a memory change occurred by cannot remember how it happened
example of American civil rights movement in 1950s and 60s in minority social influence causing social change - 6 social cryptomnesia
social change clearly did come about so the south is quite a different place now. but some people have no memory of the events that lead to that change
lessons form conformity research - Asch
Asch highlighted the importance of dissent in one of his variations in which one confederate gave correct answers through the procedure. this broke power of the majority, encouraging others to do likewise. such dissent has the potential to ultimately lead to social change
lessons form conformity research - environmental/health campaigns (NSI)
-environmental and health campaigns which exploit conformity processes by appealing to normative social influence. they do this by providing information about what other people are doing. examples include reducing litter by printing normative messages on litter bins (bin it- others do), and preventing young people form smoking (telling them most other young people do not smoke). social change is encouraged by drawing attention to what majority are actually doing
lessons form obedience research - Milgram
Milgram’s research clearly demonstrates the importance of disobedient role models. in the variation where a confederate teacher refuses to shock learner, rate of obedience of genuine participant significantly decreased
lessons from obedience research - Zimbardo 2007
Zimbardo 2007 suggested how obedience can be used to create social change through process of gradual commitment. once a small instruction is obeyed, it becomes much more difficult to resist a bigger one , people essentially drift into a new kind of behaviour
strength of social influence and social change - research support for normative influences
- research has shown that social influence processes based in psychological research do work
-Nolan et al 2008 aimed to see if they could change people’s energy use habits. the researchers hung messages on the front doors of houses in San Diego, California every week for a month. the key message was that most residents were trying to reduce energy usage. as a control, some residents had a different message that just asked them to save energy but had no reference to others behaviour. they were significant decreased in energy usage in first group compared to second –> shows that conformity (majority influence) can lead to social change through operation of normative social influence, it is a valid explanation
limitation of social influence and social change - counterpoint to research support for normative influences
-some studies show that people’s behaviour is not always changed through exposing them to social norms. Foxcroft et al 2015 reviewed social norms interventions as part of the gold standard cochrane collaboration. this review concluded 70 studies where the social norms approach was used to reduce student alcohol use. the researchers found only a small reduction in drinking quantity and no effect on drinking frequency –> seems using normative social influence does not always produce long-term social change
strength of social influence and social change - minority influence explains social change
-psychologists can explain how minority influence brings about social change
-Nemeth 2009 claims social change is due to the type of thinking minorities inspire. when people consider minority arguments, they engage in divergent thinking. this type of thinking is broad rather than narrow, in which the thinker actively searches for information and weighs up more options. Nemeth argues this leads to better decisions and more creative solutions to social issues –> shows why dissenting minorities are valuable - they can stimulate new ideas and open minds in a way majorities cannot
limitation of social influence and social change - role of deeper processing
-deeper processing may not play a role in how minorities
bring about social change
-some people are supposedly converted because they think more deeply about the minority’s views. Mackie 1987 disagrees and presents evidence that is is majority influence that may create deeper processing if you do not share their views. this is because we like to believe that other people share our views and think in the same way as us. when we find that a majority believes something different, then we are forced to think long and hard about their arguments and reasoning –> means that a central element of minority influence had been challenged, casting doubt of its validity as an explanation of social change
evaluation of social influence and social change - barriers to spread social change
- the research provides a lot of practical advice useful to a minority wanting to influence majority opinion or behaviour (eg importance of consistency)
-However, according to Bashir et al 2013 , the fact is that people still resist social change. for example, Bashir et found that their participants were less likely to behave in an environmentally-friendly ways because they did not want to be associated with the stereotypical and minority environmentalists. they described environmental activists in negative ways. despite this resistance, the researchers were still able to suggests ways in which minorities can overcome barriers to social change
