Resistance to social influence + Social change

Minority influence in social change

( ACCORDING TO MOSCOVICI'S RESEARCH) Consistent, committed and flexible minority is most effective in influencing an individual, however they can also explain examples of social change which have occurred through history.

Evaluation - soc. support for resisting conformity POSITIVES

- Asch research - conformity from 32% to 5% when one of the confederates gave the correct answer to the lines task, and 9% when the confederate gave a different but still wrong answer. - other research - participants resisted pressure to conform during the lines task even though one of the confederates said that they were disadvantaged with bad sight. giving different answers to the majority still gave the participants the confidence to answer differently

Evaluation - minority influence in social change - NEGATIVES

- Mackie (1987) suggests that majority influence that causes individuals to think more deeply, particularly if the individual does not agree with the view the majority is presenting. If people don't share our views, it forces us to think deeply about their arguments and reasoning - which may lead to changing perspectives. - relies heavily on lab experiments - artificial and does not reflect what happens in the real world, therefore challenging the accuracy of minority influence causing social change

Explanations for resistance to social influence

- Social support (situational) - locus of control (dispositional)

Evaluation - conformity in social change - NEGATIVES

- conformity id not always effectives in bringing about social change. 2009 study - a marketing campaign used to correct misconceptions about drinking norms, but the students in the study showed no reduction in their perceptions f student drinking levels, nor did they report drinking any less themselves.

Evaluation - conformity in social change - POSITIVES

- evidence supporting - 2008 study where messages were hung on the front doors of Californians' homes saying other residents use low energy, in an aim to reduce energy consumptions. messages placed every week for a month, and there was a control group with messages that say they should reduce energy consumption - with not mention of other residents. results showed significant decrease in energy consumption in the first group.

Evaluation - soc. support for resisting conformity NEGATIVES

- in Asch's research, the most common behaviour was to resist the social influence to conform to the group.

Resisting conformity and obedience : locus of control

- internal locus are more likely to resist the pressure to conform or obey, because: -less likely to rely on others or attribute their own actions to others, responsible for own actions. - able to withstand the discomfort of resisting the pressure to conform or obey, as they feel greater discomfort if they allowed others to control their behaviour - resist social influences more readily because they are often ore confident and have less need for social approval

Evaluation - locus of control for resisting conformity and obedience- NEGATIVES

- locus research doesn't link to conformity because of informational processes, which suggests that locus of control does not always increase resistance to conformity so only partially supports the explanation - Twenge et al (2004) analysed data from obedience studies over a 40 year period, which showed that people have become more resistant to obedience over time but also more external in their locus of control, whereas they should be more internal, therefore the data challenges the link between resistance to obedience and the internal locus of ocntrol.

Evaluation - locus of control for resisting conformity and obedience- POSITIVES

- research supporting - (variation of Milgram's study) Holland carried out a research study which found 37% of those with internal locus refused to carry out the highest shock level, whereas only 23% with external refused to do the highest shock - study comparing locus of control to responsiveness to normative and informational influence in 157 undergrad students - those w/ internal locus of control ere less likely to conform to those with external

Evaluation - soc. support for resisting obedience POSITIVES

- variation of Milgram's study - a disobedient confederate refused to continue the electric shocks, rates of obedience dropped dramatically from 65% to just 10% - real life incident 1943 - German women protested in Berlin against the Gestapo who were holding 2000 Jewish women prisoner. women refused to obey, continuing to resist obedience when being told orders by the Gestapo.

Processes of minority influence into social change 1

1) Minority group has to draw the majority's attention to its position, involving active campaigning

Processes of minority influence into social change 2

2) minority group must demonstrate consistency in its behaviour

Processes of minority influence into social change 3

3) members of the majority start to consider the minority message - the certainty they had about their existing views become open for debate, therefore minority encourages deeper thinking, and individuals might not necessarily agree with the minority but are motivated to think more deeply about their cause.

Processes of minority influence into social change 4

4) minority shows commitment to their cause by participating in risky activities where they place themselves in danger.

Processes of minority influence into social change 5

5) individuals begin to agree with the minority through the process of internalisation, private and ublic change of opinion. more and more people promote the minority cause - a tipping point where the "minority view" becomes the majority view. Happens via the snowball effects.

Resisting conformity : social support

if someone goes against the views of the majority, this gives social support to anyone else who does not agree with the views of the majority. the person doesn't even have to have the same opinion as an individual to be able to resist conformity. once unanimity is broken,individuals are given the confidence to act upon their own judgements.

Evaluation - minority influence in social change - POSITIVES

research shows practical applications - study in 2013 aimed to investigate why people often resist change. found that people were reluctant to behave in environmentally friendly ways as they did not want to be associated with environmentalists that are viewed negatively. If minorities want to make social change, they have to behave in ways which do not succumb to stereotypes.

Resisting obedience : Social influence

the disobedient person acts as a role model and having an ally can help an individual to cope with the awkwardness involved with contravening social conventions of obeying a person with legitimate authority.

External locus of control

things happen are because of things that are out of their control - fate.

Internal locus of control

things that happen are a result of their own behaviour

Social change

where whole societies change their beliefs and perceptions, as opposed to only an individual.

Locus of control

It is about there an individual feels control of their life comes from - internal or external factors.

Conformity in social change

People have a strong desire to be the same as others, and the behaviour that individuals carry out is often related to what we think everyone else is doing. Social change can be brought up by drawing attention to what other people are doing

How does social change come about

Social change can come about through social influence processes such as minority influence and conformity