MINORITY INFLUENCE SOCIAL CHANGE MINORITY INFLUENCE On MWBs

MINORITY INFLUENCE & SOCIAL CHANGE

MINORITY INFLUENCE On MWBs, answer the following question: How does minority influence differ from majority influence? Moscovici argues that they occur through two different processes Minority Influence Majority influence Informational social influence Normative social inlfuence True conversion Compliance

MINORITY INFLUENCE Therefore, the effects of minority influence are more permanent that the effects of majority influence This is why minority influence is more associated with social change Will you stick with your re-usable coffee cup? Why? Will you still be wearing the same style of clothing in 10 years time? Why?

CHOOSE YOUR INFLUENTIAL MINORITY In your groups, identify some individuals or small groups who have been influential with a majority Now select three examples that possess at least three of the qualities that are likely to make a minority successful (e. g. consistent, made sacrifices, acting out of prinicple) You will now choose one of your examples to take forward and present a case to the rest of the class. Each group must have a different example, so you may have to use one of the other two if your first choice gets chosen by another group

MAKING A CASE FOR YOUR INFLUENTIAL MINORITY On big whiteboards, you will now write out a case for your minority. You should outline exactly how he/she/them has/have been influential in terms of the categories listed in the information pack: Being consistent Being committed Being flexible Acting out of principle Making sacrifices Being similar to the majority Having views that are in line with current social trends You will be scored out of five according to how strong your case is We will then see which minority ‘wins’

MOSCOVICI’S STUDY INTO MINORITY INFLUENCE You now have 5 minutes to read through the information on Moscovici’s study of minority influence from the pack (p. 19) Now let’s take a Quizlet to find out how much you remember about Moscovici’s study

EVALUATION OF MOSCOVICI’S RESEARCH Complete the following statements so that they are fully elaborated evaluations of Moscovici’s study. There are some questions to guide you… The study was highly controlled. This means that it enabled us to isolate… What variable was being isolated? What conclusion does that enable us to draw? How might that knowledge be useful in the outside world?

EVALUATION OF MOSCOVICI’S RESEARCH Complete the following statements so that they are fully elaborated evaluations of Moscovici’s study. There are some questions to guide you… There are problems with the external validity of Moscovici’s study. This is because. . Who were the participants? Why may this be a problem? Was the task important to the participant? Why might this matter?

EVALUATION OF MOSCOVICI’S RESEARCH Complete the following statements so that they are fully elaborated evaluations of Moscovici’s study. There are some questions to guide you… Nemeth et al (1987) used a simulated jury situation where group members discussed the amount of compensation to be paid to someone involved in a ski-lift accident. When a confederate put forward an alternative point of view and refused to change his position, this had no effect on the other group members. A confederate who compromised, and therefore showed some degree of shift towards the majority, did exert influence over the rest of the group Link the research findings back to Moscovici’s findings and say exactly how it supports or challenges Moscovici’s conclusions

EXAM PRACTICE (a) Name three behaviours that enable a minority to influence a majority. (3 marks) (b) Marcus wants to persuade his group of friends to go travelling in the summer but the rest of the group would like to go on a beach holiday. Briefly suggest how Marcus might use three behaviours that you have identified in your answer to part (a) to persuade his friends to go travelling (3 marks)

MARK SCHEME (a) [AO 1 = 3] 1 mark for each of the following : (b) Consistency Commitment Flexibility/non-dogmatic Making sacrifices for the cause Appearing to act out of principal, not self-interest Being similar to the majority Advocating views that are in line with social trends [AO 2 = 3] 1 mark for relevant application of each characteristic (no need to name again here but must be the behaviours identified in part (a) for credit ). If there is a wrong, or no answer to part (a) then still credit application in part (b) if a relevant, correct behaviour is named as part of the application. Possible applications: • Marcus could show consistency by keeping on repeating the same message about how great it would be to go travelling • Marcus could show commitment by explaining how he is taking time and working hard to plan the travelling trip and saving for the trip • Marcus could show flexibility by listening to the others and agree to going on a beach holiday at the end of the travelling trip The application must relate explicitly to the content of the stem

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE PROCESSES IN SOCIAL CHANGE What do we mean by social change? In your groups, come up with three changes that have occurred in our society in the last 50 years Social change occurs when a minority view challenges the majority view and is eventually accepted by the majority Now choose one of your examples and answer the following questions on BWBs (each group must use a different example): When did this change begin? What caused it to start? At the beginning, was there a particular individual or group who were pushing for the change? If so, how were they regarded by the majority? Did the change happen slowly or quickly? Was there a point at which things started to speed up? If so, when and why? Why do you think the majority were persuaded away from their former view/behaviour?

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE PROCESSES IN SOCIAL CHANGE: COGNITIVE CONFLICT You are about to see a short clip from a recent TV show. Consider these questions: What change has this led to in the UK? Why did this programme have an impact on people’s behaviour? Is the change likely to be permanent? (give a reason) The questions will be put up again after the clip

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE PROCESSES IN SOCIAL CHANGE: COGNITIVE CONFLICT

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE PROCESSES IN SOCIAL CHANGE: COGNITIVE CONFLICT Here are the questions again: What change has this led to in the UK? Why did this programme have an impact on people’s behaviour? Is the change likely to be permanent? (give a reason)

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE PROCESSES IN SOCIAL CHANGE: COGNITIVE CONFLICT We feel uncomfortable when our beliefs, attitudes or behaviour are inconsistent. This is known as cognitive dissonance. For example. . I like whales I use singleuse plastics Therefore , if the minority c an draw attention to a cause that confl ict current be s with liefs, they are likely to cause a shift in be h a viour Plastics are harming whales In this example, once attention has been drawn to the inconsistency between the belief and the behaviour, psychological discomfort, or dissonance, is likely to occur. To reduce this, the individual is likely to change their behaviour

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE PROCESSES IN SOCIAL CHANGE Do you consider yourself to be a feminist? Answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to these questions: Do you think that women should receive equal pay for doing the same job as a man? Do you think it should be illegal for a man to rape his wife? Do you think sexual harassment in the workplace should be illegal? Do you think that women should be entitled to paid maternity leave? If you said ‘yes’ to the questions above, but you didn’t identify with being a feminist, think about why, because all of these rights that women now have, have been fought for by feminists

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE PROCESSES IN SOCIAL CHANGE Social Cryptoamnesia The majority group take on board the views and ideas of the minority but either forget where they came from or deliberately disassociate themselves. This is because minorities tend to have a negative image that members of the majority don’t want to be associated with, so while they become persuaded by the arguments of the negative minority, they seek to distance themselves from the source of the information This may be the reason some of you didn’t identify with being a feminist, although you probably agree with feminist ideology Come up with at least ONE example of your own of social cryptoamnesia – in other words, where there has been a change in society due to pressure from a minority group, but that the views are not necessarily attributed to that group

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE PROCESSES IN SOCIAL CHANGE The Snowball Effect The more the minority group grows, the more influential it becomes. Social influence accelerates (this happens when something ‘goes viral’ on social media). Once a few members of the majority start to move towards the minority, then other people from the majority start to pay attention and the movement gathers momentum. The minority must reach 10% for the snowball effect to occur – this is the ‘tipping point’ which leads to the minority becoming the majority Each group will be given a jumbled up gay timeline • Can you put the events in the order in which they occurred? • Once you have done this can you match the year to the event?

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE PROCESSES IN SOCIAL CHANGE The Snowball Effect Use the QR code to check if you got the events & years in the right order Now look at the description of the snowball effect. How are the elements of this process demonstrated by the gay timeline?

EXAM PRACTICE Read the item and then answer the question that follows The following article appeared in a newspaper: Britain’s views on homosexuality – the biggest social change of the last 30 years? In the UK, views on homosexuality have changed significantly in recent times. Thirty years ago, almost two-thirds of the British public opposed same-sex relationships because they were ‘morally wrong’. These days, homosexuality is accepted and the majority of British people support recent changes to the laws on gay marriage and adoption. With reference to the article above, explain how social influence leads to social change. (Total 6 marks)

MARK SCHEME Possible content: Outline of the snowball effect and then apply to attitudes of homosexuality (most likely, as it fits best with the information in the stem) Outline of cognitive dissonance and then application to homosexuality Factors that make minorities successful (e. g. consistency, sacrifices etc) and how they were demonstrated by gay rights campaigners Example: The snowball effect could help to explain changing views towards homosexuality. (1 mark) The influence of the minority grows slowly over time (1 mark) which would explain why it has taken 30 years for the change to occur (1 mark). Eventually there reaches a tipping point, at which point the movement gathers momentum and becomes the majority view (1 mark). This is shown by the fact that most people accept homosexuality now, whereas two thirds where opposed to it 30 years ago (1 mark). These changes in attitudes are often accompanied by changes in the law, for example, the laws on gay marriage and adoption (1 mark)

EVALUATION OF RESEARCH INTO SOCIAL CHANGE It is thought that minority influence and majority influence (conformity) both play a part in social change. Go up to your BWBs and draw a flow chart using the terms below to explain how both process play a part. . Minority influence conformity Informational social influence compliance conversion internalisation Normative social influence

EVALUATION OF RESEARCH INTO SOCIAL CHANGE Nolan et al (2008) hung messages on the front doors of houses in San Diego, California that either told them that most residents were trying to reduce their energy usage, or asked them to reduce their energy usage, but made no reference to other residents. Nolan found significant decreases in energy usage in the first group only. Link the research to theory. What does it suggest about social change and why, and which theory does this link to?

EVALUATION OF RESEARCH INTO SOCIAL CHANGE Bashir et al (2013) found that participants were less likely to behave in environmentally friendly ways because they did not want to be associated with stereotypical and minority ‘environmentalists’. They rated environmental activists and feminists in negative ways, describing them as ‘tree huggers’ and ‘man haters’ Link the research to theory. Which theory of social change does it support and why?

SOCIAL CHANGE: SNAP PLAN Write a snap plan for the following essay title: Discuss the role of social influence processes in social change (16 marks)