The role of social influence in explaining social change Flashcards
Social change
Occurs when society adopt a new belief or way of behaving which becomes widely accepted as the norm.
Social change through minority influence
how does the minority convert the majority.
If certain conditions exist and the minority is persuasive then, according to Moscovici, conversion can take place, and this is necessary for social change to occur.
The process of social change is influenced by minorities-Black lives matter example:
Drawing attention to an issue
Minorities can bring about social change by drawing the attention of the majority to an issue.
Eg. Taking a knee during the national anthem
Cognitive conflict
Minorities challenge the majority’s cognitions, so they think more deeply about the issue being challenged.
Attention was brought to it people started to think more about it then other players also started taking a knee.
Consistency of the position
Moscovici’s research showed that minorities expressing a consistent argument, both between themselves and over time have more influence over the majority.
Eg. The protest was consistent over 2-3 years, and BLM protests have been ongoing and consistent.
Augmentation principle
If the minority is willing to suffer for their views, they are seen as more committed and will be taken more seriously by the majority.
After Colin took the knee, he lost his career, he has never been signed by another NFL team since. In the weeks following initially taking the knee, he also received death threats.
Snowball effect
Minorities gather support gradually over time and their influence converts more and more until it reaches the tipping point where social change occurs.
Over the past few years more and more people have questioned and protested against treatment of black people, and black lives matter protests have been seen all around the
Social change occurs
At this stage social cryptoamnesia may exist. with the black whereby society ‘knows’ social change has occurred but forgets the origins of it and so the majority does not give credit to the minority for the change taking place.
We are currently living in a social change and it is still ongoing.
With the black lives matter movement we are not there yet and are still living in a social change and it’s still ongoing.
Alternative explanations for social change: IsI
Social change can come about through ISI and providing arguments and information in favour of views.
Social change is encouraged by the attempt to gain information. ISI therefore takes longer to effect change as it requires time for people to question and examine their own beliefs, and therefore leads to internalisation of beliefs both privately and publicly and is usually permanent.
An example of ISI is that now more is known about the harmful effects of smoking; young people may have become convinced by such evidence, and a social change has occurred.
Disobedient models
A disobedient individual can act as a role model to demonstrate to others in society about how to resist the pressure to obey and instigate social change.
The obedience rates in Milgram’s research fell when a disobedient model refused to give shocks in the variation of the original experiment. This opens the way for social change to occur at a society level.
Another example of this is Rosa Parks who sat in an area at the front of a bus reserved for white people. This act of disobedience served to highlight racial inequality in the USA and was her example that many others followed.
Alternative explanations for social change: NSI
(NSI) this is where information is provided about what the majority are doing, and the social change is encouraged by the exposure to this majority behaviour.
This is a technique used by health and environmental campaigns; it makes positive use of our tendency to conform to the majority.
An example of this is Linkenback and Perkins (2003) who found adolescents exposed to a simple message that the majority of their peers did not smoke were subsequently less likely take up smoking.
In other words, social change is encouraged by highlighting what the majority actually do, rather than what others think they do and then the others alter their own behaviour to fit in with the behaviour of peers.
Evaluation of the role of social influence processes in explaining social change: Additional research
- Research shows that it is not just minority influence which can bring about social change, conformity can also lead to social change through the process of normative social influence.
US research has shown the relationship between people’s normative beliefs and the likelihood of them taking up smoking.
Normative social influence has also been used successfully to manipulate people to behave more responsibly when it comes to energy conservation.
For example, Schultz et al (2008) found that hotel guests exposed to the normative message that 75% of guests reused their towels each day reduced their own towel use by 25%.
Therefore, it is important to understand that it is not only minority influence which brings about social change, but majority influence can also be useful too.
Validity
One limitation is temporal validity. The social changes that are cited and discussed in relation to social influence are historical, with some occurring many years ago. The historical context of the event should be considered when examining the social change or the explanation could lack temporal validity.
Furthermore, our knowledge of the events involved in the social change is derived from recollections and secondary documents such as diaries and newspapers. The retrospective data from historical evidence cannot always be verified as valid or accurate.
For example, Rosa Parks is credited as the first African American woman to stand up to racial segregation in the US. However, nine months before Parks was jailed, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin was the first Montgomery bus passenger to be arrested for refusing to give up her seat for a white passenger.
Therefore, when using social influence processes to explain social change it is essential to consider the validity of the historical sources in question.
Methodological weaknesses of underpinning social influence research.
explanations of how social influence leads to social change is largely underpinned by the research studies of Moscovici, Asch and Milgram, who conducted famous laboratory experiments into minority influence, conformity and obedience. These were all early examples of highly controlled pieces of scientific research with human participants.
However, the methodology used in these pieces of research, were artificial and did not reflect real life behaviour (they lack mundane realism) therefore, its usefulness in explaining social change is under scrutiny.
When using social influence processes to explain social change, it is important to carefully consider any methodological issues with the underpinning research.
Limitation of using social influence research to explain social change
Nemeth (1986) argues that the effects of minority influence are likely to be delayed and indirect. There is a strong tendency in human behaviour to conform to the majority position, groups are more likely to maintain the status quo rather than to involve themselves in social change.
It has taken many decades for the attitudes to change regarding drink driving and smoking. Additionally, the black lives matter campaign officially began in July 2013, and is still ongoing. Awareness has been created, however social change has not yet occurred in all areas of society, as we still have examples of discrimination.
In years to come campaigners hope to see the change has fully occurred. It can be argued that the influence of the minority group is latent rather than direct, it creates the potential for change rather than the actual change itself. Therefore, it is important to not overstate the role of minority influence in explaining social change.
