Social influence processes in social change

How does social change happen? (2 ways)

Through minority or majority influence.

What is an example of social change through minority influence in history?

The suffragettes - they fought for women having the right to vote.

How can the minority influence individuals?

If an individual is exposed to a persuasive argument under certain conditions, they may change their views to match those of the minority.

What did Moscovici (1980) refer to this process as?

‘Conversion’.

This is a necessary prerequisite for social change.

What are the five stages of the conversion process?

1. Drawing attention to the issue

2. Cognitive conflict

3. Consistency of position

4. The augmentation principle

5. The snowball effect

Explain stage 1 - drawing attention to an issue.

If the minority’s views are different to the majority’s they can draw attention to their issue. They can do this by using tactics and strategies.

The suffragettes used educational, political and militant tactics to draw attention to the fact that women were denied the same voting rights as men.

Explain stage 2 - cognitive conflict.

The minority creates a conflict between what majority members currently believe and the position advocated by the minority.

This results in the majority group members thinking more deeply about the issues being challenged.

The suffragettes created a conflict between only men being allowed to vote (existing status quo) and votes for women (their position).

Some people dealt with this conflict by moving towards the position of the suffragettes, others simply dismissed it.

Explain stage 3 - consistency of position.

Research has established that minorities tend to be more influential in bringing about social change when they express their arguments consistently over time.

The suffragettes were consistent in their views - protesting for years. This eventually convinced some people that women were ready for the vote.

Explain stage 4 - the augmentation principle.

If a minority appears willing to suffer for their views, they are seen as more committed and so are taken more seriously by others.

The suffragettes went on hunger strikes. Some members even went to prison or died for the cause.

Explain stage 5 - the snowball effect.

Minority influence initially has a small effect but this then spreads more widely as more people consider the issues being promoted.

It eventually reaches a ‘tipping point’, leading to wide-scale social change.

Universal suffrage was finally accepted by the majority of people in the UK.

How can social change through majority influence happen?

Through conformity.

What has research consistently demonstrated that behavioural choices are often related to?

Group norms.

i.e they are the subject of normative influence.

What does the social norms approach (Perkins and Berkowitz, 1986) propose?

That if people perceive something to be the norm, they tend to alter their behaviour to fit that norm.

Eg if university students think that heavy drinking is the norm, they’ll drink more - they conform.

What is behaviour therefore based more on?

What people think others believe and do - the ‘perceived norm’.

Behaviour is based less on people’s real beliefs and actions - the ‘actual norm’.

What is the gap between the perceived and actual norm called?

A ‘misperception’.

What is correcting misperceptions the basis for?

The basis for an approach to social change known as social norms interventions.

This social change happens through majority influence.

How do social norms interventions typically start?

By identifying a widespread misperception relating to a specified risky behaviour within a target population.

Eg