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Social Influence processes in social change (Evaluation (Social change…
Social Influence processes in social change
Social change through minority influence
If an individual is exposed to a persuavie argument under certain conditions they may change their views to match those of the minority
Stages of social change (e.g. the suffragettes)
1. Drawing attention to an issue
which may then create a conflict in the minds of the majority.
2. Cognitive conflict
The minority creates a conflict between what majority group members believe and the position advocated by the minority
3. Consistency of position
Minorities are more influential when they express their arguments consistently
4. The augmentation principle
Minorities who appear willing to suffer for their views are taken more seriously
5. The snowball effect
Minority influence spreads more widely until it reaches a 'tipping point', leading to wide-scale social change
Social change through majority influence
The social norms approach holds that if people perceive something to be the norm, they tend to alter their behaviour to fit the norm. The gap between the percieved and actual norm is a 'misperception', and correcting this misperception is the basis for social norms interventions.
Evaluation
Social change through minority influence may be very gradual
As there is a tendancy to conform to the majority position, in real-life, groups are more likely to maintain the staus quo rather than engage in social change. Minority influence, therefore, is frequently more latentthan direct.
Being perceived as 'deviant' limits the influence of minorities
The potential for minorities to influence social change is often limited because they are seen as deviant by the majority. Their message would have little impact because the focus of the majority's attention would be on the source of the message rather than the message itself.
Limitations of the social norms approach
Not all social norms interventions have led to social change. In an intervention aimed at student drinking, students did not report lower self-reported alcohol consumption as a result of the campaign, despite receiving normative information that corrected their misperceptions of drinking norms (DeJong et al., 2009).
Social norms and the 'boomerang effect'
In social norms interventions, those whose behaviour is more desirable than the norm will also receive the message.Schultz et al. (2007) found evidence of a 'boomerang' effect in that although a social norms campaign was effective in getting heavy energy users to use less electricity, it also caused those who used less than hte norm to increase their usage.
Overcoming the deviant minority problem: The Communist Manifesto
To persuade the majority to embrace their position, minorities must overcome the problem of being portrayed as deviants. Their approach was eventually successful in bringing about social change with the communist revolution.
Key Terms
Social change
: This occurs when a society or section of society adopts a new belief or way of behaving, which then becomes widely accepted as the norm.
Social Norms Interventions
: Attempt to correct misperception of the normative behaviour of peers in an attempt to change the risky behaviour of a target population.