Role of Social Influence Processes in Social Change
- Social change is a shift or adaptation in social norms (behaviours, attitudes, customs, beliefs, habits)
- Social change is not sudden; it takes place gradually, sometimes without people realising that change is happening, for example:
- The move towards recycling at home began with people using communal recycling hubs (e.g. huge brown bins to deposit bottles) followed by people installing their own green/brown/blue bins both outside and inside their homes for different recycled items
- If you had gone into a pub, restaurant or even cinema in the 1970s you would probably be overwhelmed by cigarette smoke (hard to imagine now!): public health campaigns over the decades helped to raise awareness of the dangers of smoking which eventually translated to official government policy
- Often minority influence is the driving force behind social change, for example:
- Gay rights, in particular the right to marry someone of the same sex is something that - decades ago - would not have been considered possible
- By drawing attention to the inequalities of heterosexual/homosexual experience (e.g. through campaigns such as Stonewall and celebrations such as Pride week) meant that discussions around gay rights could begin properly
- By maintaining a consistent message and showing commitment to the cause, gay rights campaigners were able to show that this was a serious issue that warranted serious attention and consideration
- Taking a flexible approach (e.g. using humour as a 'weapon'; avoiding a rigid and inflexible argument) has helped the gay rights cause to reach a wider audience and to find support from various sectors of society which can lead to deeper processing of the issue
- Harvey Milk was the first openly gay politician to be elected in California: he sponsored a bill banning homosexual discrimination in hotels, housing and jobs and was assassinated for his stance (the augmentation principle)
- The snowball effect can be seen in the year-on-year traction that was made by the gay rights movement culminating in gay marriage becoming legal in the UK in 2013
- Gay marriage is now not regarded as unusual in many countries and TV shows such as Ru Paul's Drag Race, It's A Sin and Queer Eye highlight social cryptomnesia i.e. the change becomes part of the fabric of society to the extent that it's difficult to remember a time when things were different
Exam Tip
When writing about social change in the exam it is a good idea to think of examples and link these to the question.
- Examples could be:
- Changing attitudes regarding working from home post-pandemic
- Overseas long-haul air travel and climate change
- Use of cruelty-free beauty products and cosmetics
- Rising levels of anxiety and use of social media
- Use key terms such as social cryptomnesia, snowball effect, augmentation principle etc. as well as referring to changing government policy.
