Social influence & change Flashcards
social change
when a whole society adopts a new belief/way of thinking which then becomes widely accepted as the norm
social change example
- environmentalist ideas about recycling & pollution in the 50s
- now the norm
6 parts of how it happens
1) draw attention to the issue
2) conflict/deeper processing
3) consistent
4) augmentation
5) snowball
6) social cryptomnesia
augmentation meaning
if the minority are seen to be suffering for their cause they are viewed as being more committed
social cryptomnesia meaning
people may have a memory that change occurred but not when or how it happened
issues with minority affecting majority
- problem of being seen as ‘deviant’
- majority may not want to align with them & be seen as deviant too
- limits impact as focus is on the source not the message
main idea of majority influence
most behaviours are from NSI so if people can perceive a behaviour as the ‘norm’ they will change their behaviour to fit that
drinking study to support
MONTANA STATE UNI CAMPAIGN
- actual data = 20.4% of young adults reported drink driving
- perceived = 92%
- corrected misconception with = 4/5 of us… campaign
- reduced to 13%
energy study to support
NOLAN ET AL (2008)
- messages on house doors in california with the message that most were trying to reduce their energy use
- control = the signs asked people to do it
- found reduction but not for control
negative results from a study
SCHULTZ (2007)
- message can be a spur to engaging in more destructive behaviour
- energy campaign = effective in getting heavy users to use less but those who used less than the norm increased their usage
