Social influence and social change

1. Social influence and social change Social influence: The role of social influence in social change

2. The role of social influence processes in social change • Research into social influence does not just tell us how individuals change their beliefs and behaviours, but also how whole societies might change. If we look around us, we find evidence of social influence in many different types of social change: for example, the actions of the suffragettes, the birth of trade unionism and the Paralympic movement. • The power that persuasive groups possess in order to bring about social change is their ability to organise, educate and mobilise support for their cause. • When individuals band together and form an organisation to focus their collective power, social change can be the result.

3. The role of social influence processes in social change • Social change occurs when societies as a whole (rather than just individuals) adopt new attitudes, beliefs and behaviours. This process occurs continually but at a gradual pace, with minority influence being the main driving force for social change. • We can look at the different areas of social influence to find evidence for the role of social influence processes in social change: • minority influence • conformity research • obedience research

4. The special role of minority influence • If an individual is exposed to a persuasive argument under certain conditions, they may change their views to match those of the minority. • Moscovici (1980) referred to this process as a ‘conversion’, a necessary prerequisite for social change.

5. The steps in how minority influence creates social change • Drawing attention to the issue. Highlighting a concern • Consistency of position Displaying a unswerving message and intent • Deeper processing Many people who simply accept the status quo start thinking further • The augmentation principle Minorities take risks to further the cause • The snowball effect People switch from a majority position to a minority one • Social cryptoamnesia occurs People have a memory that change has occurred but some people have no memory of the events leading to that change steps to social change

6. Lessons from conformity research Dissenters make social change more likely • Asch’s research demonstrated that when one confederate always gave the correct answer, this broke the power of the majority – this enabled others to dissent. This demonstrates the potential for social change Majority influence and normative social influence • Environmental and health campaigners exploit conformity by appealing to NSI. They provide information about what others are doing. Social change is encouraged by drawing attention to the majority’s behaviour

7. On the back of each towel reuse sign, information about the benefits of participating in the program was provided with the following text: “DID YOU KNOW that if most of this hotel’s guests participate in our resource savings program, it would save the environment 72,000 gallons of water and 39 barrels of oil, and would prevent nearly 480 gallons of detergent from being released into the environment this year alone?”

8. Lessons from obedience research Disobedient models make social change more likely • Milgram's research demonstrated the importance of disobedient role models. In his variation. When one confederate refused to give shocks, the rate of obedience in genuine pps dropped significantly Gradual commitment leads to ‘drift’ • Zimbardo (2007) suggested how obedience can be used to create social change – once a smaller commitment has been made it becomes more difficult to resist a bigger one. People ‘drift’ into a new kind of behaviour

9. RECAP • What are the 6 steps involved in social change? • What have we learnt from obedience research in terms of social change? • What have we learnt from conformity research in terms of social change?

10. Lessons from conformity research Dissenters make social change more likely • Asch’s research demonstrated that when one confederate always gave the correct answer, this broke the power of the majority – this enabled others to dissent. This demonstrates the potential for social change Majority influence and normative social influence • Environmental and health campaigners exploit conformity by appealing to NSI. They provide information about what others are doing. Social change is encouraged by drawing attention to the majority’s behaviour

11. Lessons from obedience research Disobedient models make social change more likely • Milgram's research demonstrated the importance of disobedient role models. In his variation. When one confederate refused to give shocks, the rate of obedience in genuine pps dropped significantly Gradual commitment leads to ‘drift’ • Zimbardo (2007) suggested how obedience can be used to create social change – once a smaller commitment has been made it becomes more difficult to resist a bigger one. People ‘drift’ into a new kind of behaviour

12. Evaluation (AO3) Research support for role of NSI in social change • Nolan (2008) investigated whether majority influence led to a reduction in energy consumption in a community: the researchers hung messages on the front doors of houses in San Diego, California every week for one month. The key message was that most residents were trying to reduce their energy usage. As a control, some residents had a different message that just asked them to save energy but made no reference to other people’s behaviour. • Findings showed significant decreases in energy usage in the group that were informed ‘most residents’ were trying to reduce energy usage showing how conforming to a majority group can lead to social change.

13. Evaluation (AO3) Minority influence is only indirectly effective • Nemeth (1986) suggests that the effects of minority influence may only be indirect and delayed: • They are indirect because the majority is only influenced on matters related to the specific issue (recycling) and not the central issue itself (global warming). • Effects of minority influence are delayed because the effects may not be seen in society for some time. • This suggests that minority influence has limited effect in the short-time and genuine social changes caused by minority influence only occur after long periods of time: minority influence is frequently more latent than direct as it creates the potential for social change rather than actual social change.

14. Evaluation (AO3) The nature of deeper processing has been questioned • The potential for minorities to influence social change is often limited because they are seen as ‘deviant’ in the eyes of the majority. • Members of the majority may avoid aligning themselves with the minority position because they don’t want to be seen as deviants themselves. The message of the minority would then have very little impact because the focus of the majority’s attention would be the source of the message (i.e. the deviant minority) rather than the message itself. • In trying to bring about social change, minorities face the double challenge of avoiding being portrayed as deviants and also making people directly embrace their position. • Identification is overlooked • Methodological issues

15. Evaluation (AO3) Identification is overlooked • Being able to identify with a minority group is just as important as agreeing with their views; minorities can never be influential unless they can attract the attention of the majority. It is the majority that holds the power. If they find the minority too off-putting, they will never be in a position to consider its message, which is a crucial first step in the process of minority influence. This is why it is so important that minorities behave in ways that will put their case right 'under the nose' of the majority.

16. Evaluation (AO3) Methodological issues • The explanations based on social influence research is limited in what it can tell us about social change due to methodological issues. For example, trivial tasks used in some studies do not reflect real-life situations of social influence. • However, practical steps based on research studies have proven effective in bringing about change, suggesting the link with social influence is at least partly valid.

17. Britain’s views on homosexuality – the biggest social change of the last 30 years?In the UK, views on homosexuality have changed significantly in recent times. Thirty years ago, almost two-thirds of the British public opposed same-sex relationships because they were ‘morally wrong’. These days, homosexuality is accepted and the majority of British people support recent changes to the laws on gay marriage and adoption. With reference to the article above, explain how social influence leads to social change (6 marks)

18. Britain’s views on homosexuality – the biggest social change of the last 30 years?In the UK, views on homosexuality have changed significantly in recent times. Thirty years ago, almost two-thirds of the British public opposed same-sex relationships because they were ‘morally wrong’. These days, homosexuality is accepted and the majority of British people support recent changes to the laws on gay marriage and adoption. With reference to the article above, explain how social influence leads to social change (6 marks)

21. Psychology and the economy… • Implications of psychological research for the economy • Students will be able to use content from topics they have covered elsewhere on the Specification, therefore no extra teaching is required. Students need to be able to explain the economic implications of the research. • E.g anti-depressants help the economy as it saves healthcare resources/money

25. Could you answer the following question? Discuss the role of social influence processes in social change (12 marks – AS/16 marks A level)

26. Research Methods Complete the ‘Apply it’ task on page 35