Social Change inSociology, Anthropology, and Psychology

UNIT 2 – SOCIAL CHANGE

Learning Goal• Identify causes of social change and explain its impact on individuals and society

• Demonstrate understanding of social science theories related to social change

What is Social Change?• Social change refers to changes in the way society is organized, the beliefs, and/or practices of the people who live in that society.

• Change in the social institutions, the rules of social behavior, value systems or the social relations of a society or community • Predictable (demographics)• Unpredictable (Invention of Airplane)

Causes of Social Change• Geography: natural forces, proximity to other countries• External events• Technology• Human factor:

• Charismatic leadership• Modernized elites• Population wanting change

The Opposite of social change – Social continuity

• Social continuity - means that there are barriers and structures within society which are built to resist change

Impediments of Social Change• Religion• Traditional Cultural Values• Expense of the change

RELIGION

• Religion is a traditional institution that does not often change

• In some cases religion is the main basis for the law and culture in a society

• In some cases, religion does not change to meet the needs of a society – example is the legal definition of family in Canada (changed) vs. the religious definition (stayed the same)

TRADITIONAL CULTURAL VALUES• Impediment/barrier to social change• People unwilling to accept social change• Push to stick with old cultural practices and avoid modern changes

Expense of change• The price of change might be too high for a society to be willing to support• Canadian Social Example –

introduction of government health care in the 1960s – social values vs. tax payers $$$$, 1 year maternity/paternity leave

• Increasing cost of post-secondary education

• Can cause some to feel excluded from the social change because they cannot afford it

THEORIES OF CHANGE

Sociology and Change

•Focus of Studies: •massive shifts in behaviour and attitudes of groups or whole societies

•The Process:•Change is inevitable•Should be predictable - patterned

Sociology: Example Questions• How does social change come about?

• How can a society restrict or control change?

• How can societies reduce negative social trends such as physical or substance abuse?

Sociology Theories for Explaining Change (early approach)

•Decay – (Taken from Adam & Eve Genesis story) • all societies began in an ideal state and as societies inevitably become more materialistic and less spiritual, they become less able to provide for and protect its citizens

•Cycles of Growth and Decay – • societies are not always headed for destruction, but they have ups and downs

•Progress – • change as the result of continual progress (build on the experience of past societies)

Sociology Theories of Social Change• Tension and Adaptation Theory (Structural Functionalists in 1930s): • When a part of society diverges from the rest and causes a

disturbance.

• Accumulation: • Humans gathering increasing amounts of knowledge and

technology – this leads to change

• Diffusion of innovation: • an innovation is developed and becomes mainstream

(integrated into society)• Role models introducing change

Anthropology and ChangeFocus of Studies: Culture – the way of living of a

group of people, including their traditions, customs and beliefs that is passed from one generation to another.

The Process: Constantly changing (continuous) Gradual process (slow)

Change process is gradual unless a culture is destroyed by another culture

Culture is Made Up of 4 Interrelated Parts:1. Physical Environment –

• (e.g. length of seasons)2. Level of Technology – depends on the need of that

society and its existing culture • (e.g. light-rail transit seen as solution to overcrowded highways

but not in culture where foot transportation still common)3. Social Organization

• (e.g. kinship system, division of labor, etc.)4. Systems of Symbols

• (e.g. clothing & physical objects, gestures, writing, etc.)

The San of Southern Africa• http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/places/regions-places/africa-tc/southafrica_sanpeople/ 3 min

• What was the Sun culture like before the 1960s?• How did it change? What factors caused the change?

Anthropology: Example Questions• Was a cultural change caused by a change in the society’s leadership?

• What ideas or explanations can we use to describe what causes cultures to change?

• Was it caused by a shift in the values and norms of the culture’s membership?

• Is the technological change a factor in an observed cultural change?

Anthropology

• According to an anthropologist, social change happens because of…• Interaction: cultural change comes from contact with other

cultures• Diffusion: distribution of ideas and information between

cultures• Acculturation: blending of certain beliefs and customs

between cultures after close interaction over time• Incorporation – free borrowing of certain elements from another culture

• Direct change – one culture defeats or controls another culture

• Cultural evolution – evolution of the culture according to common patterns

Psychology and Change

•Focus of Studies: •Behaviours and attitudes of individuals

•Major Focus: •Link between people’s attitudes and behaviours – is it necessary to change attitudes before behaviours can change?

Psychology: Example Questions• What must people do to successfully change their behaviours?

• What factors make behaviour-modification programs successful?

• Do most people need help changing behaviour, or can they be self-changers?

Psychological Theories of Change

• Cognitive Consistency Theory

• Cognitive Dissonance Theory

• Behaviour Modification

Psychological Theories of Attitude Change

• Cognitive Consistency Theory: • People desire consistency in their beliefs. • Most people want to avoid attitudes that conflict with each

other – makes people happier

• Cognitive Dissonance Theory: • People try to avoid conflicts between what people think and

what they do (i.e., if you smoke you may not smoke in front of a friend who is strongly against it)

• Can motivate change in behaviour to match actions and beliefs

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=korGK0yGIDo - 5 min

Cognitive Consistency and Dissonance…

Cognitive Dissonance/Consistency• Festinger's (1957) Cognitive Dissonance Theory suggests that we have an inner drive to hold all our attitudes and beliefs in harmony and avoid disharmony (or dissonance).

• Cognitive dissonance refers to a situation involving conflicting attitudes, beliefs or behaviors. This produces a feeling of discomfort leading to a MODIFICATION in one of the attitudes, beliefs or behaviors to reduce the discomfort and restore balance – known as Cognitive Consistency.

• For example, suppose you smoke, but you also believe that smoking causes lung cancer. You are experiencing dissonance because what you do (behaviour – smoking) conflicts with what you think (attitude – causing cancer).

• You may avoid smoking in front of family because they oppose smoking. If a friend who is a smoker gets lung cancer, your dissonance will increase. Your inner conflict between your attitude and behaviour will mount – can cause anxiety, depression etc...

• Psychologists suggest that there are only two things that can be done to lower dissonance. One is that you change your behaviour so it is consistent with your attitude (you stop smoking), and the other is that you reinforce your attitude (you tell yourself cancer will never happen to you).

Behaviour Modification Theory• Behaviour Modification – successful change happens in stages:

Last stage:Termination – only 20% reach this stage.

Stages 1. Pre-contemplation

• Denial (“I don’t have a problem”)

• Refusal (“I like myself the way I am”)

2. Contemplation• Questioning (“Do you think I should do something about the

problem?”)

3. Preparation• Investigation (“What is my problem doing to my health? How does

my problem affect those who love me?”)

Stages of behaviour modification4. Action

• Commitment (“ I’ve got to keep doing this or I’ll never change”)

5. Maintenance• Begins about six months after Action stage begins• Transition (“I must find alternative ways to deal with my problems.

I must avoid people who are going to drag me back into my old habits.”)

6. Termination• Only about 20% of changers reach this stage• Completion (“I don’t have to work at this any more. I just don’t

want to go back to my old ways.”)• High risk for relapse

Reinforcement and Punishment

Reinforcement

Consequences increase the probability of the behavior – want the positive behaviour to continue

1. Tangibles: food, drink2. Favorite activities: visiting family, watching TV, dancing,

listening to music, singing 3. Attention: positive/negative verbals, physical contact4. Social reinforcers: praise, positive feedback

Punishment

Consequences decrease the probability of the behavior – want to discourage negative behaviour

5. Verbal reprimand

6. Time out

7. Removing a privilege

Foundational Psychologists• Conditioning – behavioral process whereby a response becomes more frequent or more predictable in a given environment as a result of reinforcement - typically being a stimulus or reward for a desired response

• Classical Conditioning - is a form of learning in which the conditioned stimulus, comes to signal the occurrence of a second stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpoLxEN54ho 3 min• Pavlov’s Bar (fun): http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEDxRCa_wfc

• Operant Conditioning - is a type of learning in which an individual's behavior is modified by its consequences.• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUwCgFSb6Nk 7 min• Punishment – reward program

Skinner in Action

• Skinner’s Experiment – Pigeon Conditioning• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_ctJqjlrHA 4 min

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGazyH6fQQ4 40 sec

• Skinner today• Rick Mercer: Behaviour Modification – YouTube 2

min

Behaviour Change• Three Myth of behaviour change https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5d8GW6GdR0 18 min