These notes got me an A* as they are a combination of all the best AO1 and AO3 from the Hodder Education AQA textbook, Illuminate Publishing AQA textbook and my own class notes. They are worded to score highly on mark schemes as I have studied all past paper questions for Social Influence.
● The role of social influence processes in social change.
Social change
- The way in which a society (rather than an individual) develops over time to replace
majority beliefs with persuasive minority ones via internalisation forming new social
norms e.g. women's right to vote
- Can be positive (recycling) or negative (Nazism)
Social influence processes
- The means by which social change occurs through Informational Social Influence (ISI)
Minority influence is a catalyst for social change
- as it allows innovation to occur, where new ideas become adopted as mainstream
practices. Minority influence leads to conversion through INTERNALISATION.
- The majority influence on the other hand is COMPLIANCE and helps maintain social
order, reinforce existing norms. It is a more immediate process that requires little
thinking so can only be broken down over time through minority influence
Steps in how minority influence creates social change
1. Drawing attention
- Highlighting concern e.g. suffragette political movement
2. Consistency of position
- Displaying an unchanging message and intent
3. Deeper processing/creating conflict
- People who simply accept the status quo start thinking further
4. The augmentation principle/Commitment
- Minorities take risks to further the cause
5. The snowball effect
- People switch from majority position to minority one
6. Social cryptomnesia occurs
- People forget origins of change
Obedience in relation to Social Change
- Disobedient role models make social change more likely
- In a variation of Milgrims study, one confederate teacher refused to give shocks, the rate
of obedience in real p’s dropped significantly
- Zimbardo also suggests that obedience can be used to create social change as gradual
commitment leads to a “drift” into a new kind of behaviour. Smaller instructions are
obeyed meaning its more difficult to resist bigger ones.
But obedience reinforces existing social norms. Disobedience encourages social change.
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller elloraowen. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for £4.49. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
