Social Influence and Social Change Flashcards
1
Q
What does the topic of Social Influence and Social Change consist of?
A
- How society is influenced and how it changes
2
Q
Minority Influence
A
- Special role in social change - example : civil rights movement in USA
3
Q
Process
A
- Draw attention : civil rights marches
- Consistency : presented consistent message and intent
- Deeper Processing : others think more deeply about issue
- Augmentation Principle : taking risks (freedom riders)
- Snowball effect : minority grows to become majority
- Social Cryptomnesia : people forget source of change
4
Q
What is Conformity and how does it link to the snowball effect?
A
- Normative social influence - people change their behaviour because they believe the majority are too
5
Q
What is Obedience in terms of step taking?
A
- Gradual commitment - people obey instructions one step at a time
6
Q
What is one way in which social change and social influence is valuable?
A
- Nemeth (2009) claims social change is due to the type of thinking minorities inspire - divergent thinking, which is broad. Nemeth argues this leads to better and more creative resolutions to social issues. Shows the value of dissenting minorities - stimulate new ideas and open minds
7
Q
What is one idea that questions the validity of minority influence in terms of social change?
A
- Mackie disagrees with the idea that people are converted because they think more deeply about minority views, she believes majority influence creates deeper processing, this is because we like believing others think the same way that we do. A central element of minority influence has been challenged
8
Q
What research supports this theory?
A
- Nolan 2008 aimed to change peoples energy use habits. Control of ‘reduce your energy’ and key message of ‘most residents are trying to reduce energy use’. There was a significant decrease in energy use of the second group rather than the control group
