role of social influence processes in explaining social change

when does social change occur

when society or sections of society adopt a new belief or way of behaving which becomes widely accepted as the norm

what is the process of social change

• drawing attention

• cognitive conflict

• consistency

• augmentation principle

• snowball effect

• social change occurs

what is “drawing attention to an issue”

minorities bring about change by drawing attention to the issue, seen through how Collin Kapernick started to take the knee during the national anthem to protest against police brutality

what is “cognitive conflict”

this is when the majority has their cognition challenged by the minority in order to think deeply about the issue, once Collin Kapernick gained attention, it made people question how the police treated black people

what is “consistency of the position”

Moscovici showed that the minority has to be both consistent amongst themselves and towards the majority, the protest done by the NFL players was consistent as well as the BLM protests

what is “augmentation principle”

the minority has to suffer in order to be seen as committed and taken seriously, Collin Kapernick had lost his career in the NFL and even received death threats

what is the “snowball effect”

minorities gain more support gradually over time and it reaches a tipping point where social change occurs, over the past few years more and more people have protested against the police brutality

what happens after “social change” has occurred

after social change has occurred, social cryptoamnesia occurs where society knows social change has occurred but forgets the origins of it and the minority does not receive credit, this hasn’t occurred yet in real life