Social influence - Processes of social change

Question 1

What is social change?

Answer 1

When a whole society adopts a new belief or behaviour which then becomes widely accepted as the norm

Question 2

What are the 3 theories used to explain social change?

Answer 2

Minority influence, obedience and conformity

Question 3

Minority influence: What is the acronym to help remember process of how minority groups lead to social change?

Answer 3

Don’t climb down a steep slope

D - draw attention
C - consistency
D - deep processing
A - augmentation principle
S - snowball effect
S - social crypto amnesia

Question 4

Minority influence: What is meant by ‘draw attention’?

Answer 4

Shining a spotlight on the cause by having a different point of view and reducing the attention from the majority viewpoint

Question 5

Minority influence: What is meant by ‘consistency’?

Answer 5

Keeping the view the same all the way through the campaign; regardless of attitudes towards the minority

Question 6

Minority influence: What is meant by ‘deeper processing’?

Answer 6

Minority creating a conflict in what the majority currently believes so people think more about the minority’s stance and question their own

Question 7

Minority influence: What is meant by the ‘augmentation principle’?

Answer 7

If the minority appear to suffer for their views, they will be seen as more committed and taken more seriously

Question 8

Minority influence: What is meant by the ‘snowball effect’?

Answer 8

Like-minded individuals come together to form a minority, they influence others and gain more members, gradually becoming the majority

Question 9

Minority influence: What is meant by ‘social crypto amnesia’?

Answer 9

Minority ideas are assimilated into the majority viewpoint without those in the majority remembering where it came from. Refers to the experience of an idea being new whereas it is in fact a memory

Question 10

Conformity: How can NSI lead to social change?

Answer 10

Social change encouraged by drawing attention to what the majority are doing
Providing info about what others are doing makes people question what they’re doing (they try to fit into the norm)

Question 11

Conformity: How can ISI lead to social change?

Answer 11

Educating people on the right thing to do means people think about changing their behaviour to be correct

Question 12

Conformity: What did Schultz (2007) find?

Answer 12

Field experiment where ppts. exposed to normative message that ‘75% of guests reuse towels’, standard environmental message or no message
Ppts. exposed to 75% used fewer towels during stay at hotel

Question 13

Obedience: How can obedience lead to social change?

Answer 13

When authority figure gives instructions that are followed by others (e.g, governments introducing new laws)

Question 14

Obedience: What is the foot in the door / gradual commitment effect?

Answer 14

If you succeed in getting people to comply with small request, they feel more obliged to go along with more important, subsequent requests