Social Change

- The term given to the range of strategies used by groups to improve their social status. 

- When a society as a whole adopts a new belief or way of behaving which then becomes widely accepted as the norm. 

- Social change can be POSITIVE or NEGATIVE.

POSITIVE - Ghandi, Rosa Parks, Suffragettes. 

NEGATIVE - Nazis, Palestinian militants, (debatably Nigel Farage).

Day-to-day social change

- Smoking in public places.
- Recycling.
- Social Networking.

THE SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY (TAJFEL 1971)

- People identify themselves as belonging to particular social categories and there is an 'us' and 'them'.
- Tajfel argued that if the social identity or status of the group you belong to is unsatisfactory or is seen by others in a negative light then you attempt to increase your social status through social change.


Social Creativity - The group attempts to redefine their attributes in a way that makes them have a positive value.

Social Competition - The minority group enters into direct competition with the powerful majority and takes social action to improve the power, status and position of their own group and challenge the social conditions that disadvantage them.

THOUGHT REFORM

- Techniques used in China from the 1920s onwards to change people's political views and beliefs to accept the new communist regime.
- Revolutionary colleges in China in the 1940s had 3 day indoctrination programmes.
- Stage 1 - students would join a discussion group and hear others talking of their hatred of the old regime and hear lectures on the new ideologies.
- Stage 2 - Pressure was put on the students to show the correct view. Non-compliance resulted in humiliation.
- Stage 3 - Students had to prepare a confession statement to read out to the group embracing new ideologies.

Majority influence takes normative social influence, an instant decision and compliance. 

MINORITY INFLUENCE - Sometimes social change yields to a minority influence.

Minorities need to be:
- Consistent
- Flexible
- Non-dogmatic
In order to be successful.

People yield to minority influence due to the snowball effect, consistency, group membership and the dissociation model.

Minority change takes internalisation, a delayed decision and informational social influence. 

Moscovici (1969)

Procedure

- Participants were placed in a group of 6 made up of 2 confederates and 4 participants.
- Each member of the group was asked to state the colour of a 'blue' screen.
- Confederates gave their judgement first.
- 2 conditions - consistent and inconsistent.
- Consistent - confederates said screen was 'green' on every trial.
- Inconsistent - confederates said screen was 'green' two thirds of the trials.

Findings 

- Conformity rate of 8% in consistent condition and 1% in the inconsistent condition.

Evaluation

- Only conducted on females - low population validity.
- Lab study - lacks mundane realism.
- Not a large difference between minority and majority.

+ Lab study - High control - high internal validity.
+ Lab study - cause and effect.
+ Supports the importance of consistency in minority influence.