Transcript less 3 PSYA2 Social - The Grange School Blogs

Who are they?
PSYA2 Social Approach:
Social Change
Learning Outcomes:
All must apply key concepts from the social
influence topic to explain social change.
Most should explain how social influence
research helps us to understand social change.
Some could draw on general knowledge to
describe examples of social change from history.
AQA Specification
For your exam, you need to know:
• How social influence research helps us to
understand social change
• The role of minority influence in social
change
How does social change happen?
How did these changes come about? Pick one:
• The right for woman to vote in the UK (1918)
• The rise of Communism in Russia (1917-1989)
• Civil rights for minority groups (1960s-now)
• End of apartheid in South Africa (1990s)
• Smoking ban in the UK (2007)
• Recycling bin collections in Bristol (now)
The Process of Social Change
How does it happen?
• Minority holds beliefs and values opposed to the
majority view.
• An inspirational leader may create a cult of
personality.
• Meetings, rallies, leaflets, posters, direct action,
bombs used to draw attention to the cause.
• Snowball effect leads to changes in public
attitudes, social norms and/or the law.
Why does social change happen?
• People follow the influence of role models. Example?
• A minority group uses information to persuade people to
change their behaviour, through ISI. Example?
• An individual from a minority group speaks out against
injustice, leading to a wave of dissent. Example?
• A dictator uses political and military power to create
change, through fear and intimidation. Example?
• A minority group uses violence to raise awareness of
their political viewpoint and force change. Example?
Social Influence Research
1) Normative
Social Influence
c) people follow new norms, from a group or
role model (compliance & identification)
2) Informational
Social Influence
a) people change their beliefs and attitudes,
3) Conformity
(Asch)
d) people can be converted by a small
4) Obedience
(Milgram)
e) people will obey someone who appears to
5) Independent
behaviour
b) dispositional and situational factors affect
due to new information (internalisation)
group, if they are targeted 1-by-1.
have authority and power over them.
levels of conformity & obedience.
Applications of Research
• Latane & Wolfe’s (1981) Social Impact Theory
suggests that social influence is affected by the strength
(status), immediacy (physical, social, psychological
distance) and number of sources of influence.
• You have been asked to create a campaign for an
animal rights charity which wants a complete ban on
all animal testing. Outline a plan for your campaign,
using Social Impact Theory to inform your choices.
Applications of Research
How did you use Social Impact Theory?
• Strength
• Immediacy
• Number
• What other ideas did you draw on?
Minority Influence Research
• Minority influence research also provides
evidence to help us understand social change.
• What is ‘minority influence’?
• What key study demonstrates the effects of
minority influence?
• What is the most important thing to do if you
want to create change from a minority position?
• What else will help you bring about change?
Minority Influence Research
• Moscovici et al (1969) showed
that consistency is a critical
factor in minority influence.
Other research has shown that
the minority also needs to be
flexible in the way they present
their case, to bring people on
side.
• Clark et al (1989) showed that
persuasive information and
effective counter-arguments
are crucial, too.
Minority Influence Research
In addition…
• Zimbardo (2007) proposed
the idea of ‘social heroism’,
where people who resist
unjust authority are seen as
heroes, providing a role
model for other dissidents.
• Milgram & Asch found that
people were less likely to
obey or conform if they had
an ally.
Explaining Social Change
1) Choose one example of real social change that
you know about.
2) Choose 2-3 theories or research studies that
can be used to help explain your example.
3) Create a mindmap, poster, notes or an essay
E.g. Suffragettes – consistency (Moscovici) –
social heroism (Zimbardo) – snowball effect –
changes to the law (1918, after WWI).
AQA Specification
Answer these questions to test your knowledge:
1) How does social influence research help us to
understand social change? (4 marks)
2) What is the role of minority influence in social
change? (4 marks)
• You will need to choose what to say – you only
have 10 minutes to answer both questions!
PSYA2 Social Approach:
Social Change
Learning Outcomes:
All must apply key concepts from the social
influence topic to explain social change.
Most should explain how social influence
research helps us to understand social change.
Some could draw on general knowledge to
describe examples of social change from history.