Social Change Notes PDF

Social change What is social change Social change is how people live and interact in a society, which changes over time. It includes shifts in social norms, behaviours, and institutions, often driven by factors such as technological advancements, economic shifts, and social movement Main character...

Social change What is social change Social change is how people live and interact in a society, which changes over time. It includes shifts in social norms, behaviours, and institutions, often driven by factors such as technological advancements, economic shifts, and social movement Main characteristics of change - It happens everywhere and is unavoidable, but the rate of change varies from place to place - Sometimes intentional, but often unplanned - Even if the change is planned it has unintended consequences - Often generates controversy Forces that impact change - Powerful individuals/groups - Cost - traditional values - Social movement Types of Social Movement - Organized efforts by a group of people to create change Alternative - Limited at a selective part of the population and seek limited change - Ex. MADD, AA Redemptive - Look at a selective part of the population and seek radical change - Ex. cults Reformative - Look at everyone, but seek partial change - Ex. environmental movement Revolutionary - Look at everyone and seek radical change - Ex. communist revolution Why are people afraid of change? - Neuroscience has shown that uncertainty feels similar to failure in our brains. That's why so many would rather avoid the change of how uncomfortable the associated feeling can be Reason - Fear of the unknown - Self-doubt - Feeling isolated - Fear of responsibility - Diffusion of responsibility (if you do this you a ho) - Failure to realize other option - Cling to “stuff” - Ex. working at a job because of benefits but hating the job, won't change because of that Key terms - Encultrartion: - It is when you learn about your culture, you internalize it, and it becomes a part of your identity - It looks different for everyone - Advocacy research method: - Social scientists will do research, and after compiling this research will become an advocate for the group they research - Alienation: - The feeling of being disconnected, not included in society or a group - This can cause people to go for social change - Conformity: - When a person conforms to society's norms - A very powerful force of change - Cognitive consistency: - When your attitudes align with each other, and your beliefs and behaviour align with each other - This is the desired cognitive state (practice what you preach) - Cognitive dissonance: - When your beliefs don’t align with each other, and don’t align with your behaviour  - This causes guilt and shame, this is the least desired cognitive state - Infitie mindset - Everything is a work in progress Social changes: Theories about conforming What is conformity - A type of social influence involving a change in belief or behaviour to fit it with others, norms etc. - This change is in response to a real or imagined group pressure Herbert Kelman's three types of conformity - Compliance - Change your behaviour to fit in with a group, even if you don't agree with them (superficial → gain approval - ex. laughing at a joke you don’t think is funny because everyone is laughing - Identification - Adopting behaviour or beliefs to be like someone you admire or to fit in with a group you value - Ex. dress like your co-worker because you want to be in the team - Internationalization - Truly adopting the group's belief or behaviours because you genuinely agree with them - Becoming a vegetarian because you believe in animal rights, not just because your friends are also vegetarians Acquiescence effect - When you’re asked a question, and you think about how it will make you look, and not how you feel, this is to acquiesce or to comply with society's norms, we are more positive less negative - We seek to acquiesce (comply) to the needs of others, particularly when - When the person is superior to you in some way - When the answer is too much effort or time-consuming Bystander effect - In an emergency situation, the more people around the less likely anyone will help - Diffusion of responsibility: you can put the responsibility on other people  - Conformity: if you see a group of people do nothing you are more likely to do nothing - Choking experiment Commitment theory - If you make a commitment out loud to other people you feel more pressure to commit Communication accommodation theory - We tend to conform to the communication with the people we are with, both verbal and body language Role - Often time people will conform to behaviour we associate with certain roles Reciprocity norm - If someone helps you out, you feel the need to return the favour Informational social influence (social proof, influencers) - If we are unsure of how to act or do we look to other people and conform to them Impression Management People will go to great lengths to manage the impression that others have of them, they might change the way they talk, dress, act. Pluralistic Ignorance In a g group setting, someone suggests something, no one objects, and even if you don’t want to do it you stay quiet because you incorrectly assume everyone wanted to do it as well. Social Impact Theory The likelihood a person will respond to social influence will increase with: I. Your relationship with the person asking you to do something II. The number of people III. How physically close are they to you Groupthink When the need of wanting to be a part of the group, and you start to make decisions as a group instead of individual people 1. Strong group identity The more similarities the more likely groupthink occurs 2. Charismatic leader If the leader can draw people in and is charismatic 3. Low knowledge There’s a lot of people who don’t know about the topic, so they don’t challenge Sometimes you think you have low knowledge, but you're just not confident in yourself 4. High stress You need to make a decision and it has to be made very quickly Alienation and Conformity Cult formal definition - A small religious group that is not part of a larger and more accepted religion and that has beliefs regarded by many as extreme or dangerous - Subjective because what is extreme or dangerous Key components of a cult Leader - A cult will have a person with all the power, they have narcissistic tendencies, they are charismatic leaders, autocratic leader - They either believe they are godlike or have a connection to godlike to being Loyalty - All cults demand complete loyalty, in exchange for loyalty they promise salvation Total control (total institution) - Completely changed your beliefs and behaviours, they want to remould you Thinking - Independent thought is discouraged, they want you to conform to the group Polarized - Us verse them is a heavy belief in the cult Comparing cults to other groups Deception Cults  - There is a lot of deception in cults, which looks very normal at first Others groups - They are very open about who they are and what they do Decision to commit - Very quick to join, so that you don’t question, and don’t dig Other groups - They don’t have the pressure to join Independence - They want you to become part of their group - They want you to be yourself Response to critics Cults - They do not want to deal with criticism and do not deal with it well Other groups - Very open and organized response Family and friends - They will welcome new people to the cults but if not they want you to be cut off Other groups - Welcome to other people when Cults who is more targeted - All kinds of people - idealistic /spiritual - People who feel alienated - Times of transition - Those who challenge mainstream norms Leaving a cult - Having to admit that they made a mistake - Giving up friendship/connection in the cult - Fear of the real world - Possible fear of revenge of leaving the cult Is Scientology a cult - Isolation after being cut out - Central leader - A part of something new and different  - Trying to forget everything to get a new message (resocialization) - Not able to think for themselves, they are being abused - Follows people, when given criticism very aggressive Atomic habits Why do small habits matter so much? - Small habits do not transform your life overnight, but they cast a vote for the person you want to become True behaviour change is really identity change - This is who you are now What are habits - A behaviour that you have repeated enough to be more or less automatic - Brushing your teeth, washing your hair Behaviour modification explained - Is a treatment approach that uses basic learning techniques (such as conditioning) to alter human behaviour Stages of change Stage Explanation Pre-contemplation - Refusal: Is okay with the behaviour and won’t change - Denial: Denies that there is a problem, or even denies it exists - Extremely difficult for the people around them Contemplation Questioning - At this stage, you have to become vulnerable, depending on who you ask - they may go back to stage one after opening up or will move on to the next step Preparation Investigation - Trying to figure out what the behaviour is and how it affects you  - This causes you to spark change - It may only work for some people Action Commitment - Now actually changing your behaviour - Maybe a slow change but it is still a change Maintenance 6 months plus, Transition - Changed behaviour constantly for 6 months or more, have to remove the cause of what triggered this behaviour Termination Completion - Only 20% of people reach this stage - You no longer have to work on it, you just do it Classical conditioning (palov) stimulus-response pattern - Any object/event in the environment that causes a reaction - Believe that all human behaviour is patterned - Study stimulus-response pattern to see their behaviour Operant conditioning (skinner) - Behaviour is strengthened if followed by reinforcement or diminished if followed by punishment Operant conditioning terms Positive reniforcement - Add a positive stimulus - Ex. praise Negative reinforcement - Removed an aversive stimulus - Ex. alarm clock Positive punishment - Adds an aversive stimulus - Ex. parking tickets Negative punishment - Remove a desirable stimulus - Ex. taking away your license Social learning theory (bandura) - Any learning that happens in a social context (learning from others) - Social learning doesn’t always happen right away - There must be a desire to do the behaviour Modelling process - Attention - You must pay attention to the behaviour to replicate the behaviour - Retention (memory) - Many people have different ways of remembering - Reproduction - You need to have the same location, supplies, or times to repeat the behaviour - Motivation - There must be a desire to do this behaviour - Copy from role models and idols Trial and error - People will try to change their behaviour by doing trial and error Flooding (exposure therapy) - Treatment used to treat phobias - Very rapidly expose someone to what they are afraid of, in an extreme way - Has to be done by a trained specialist, if not done correctly will cause a panic attack or shock - When done correctly has an 80% effective rate Systematic desensitization - A type of counter-condition that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli - As people get more anxious you redirect them into something more relaxed - substitution g alternatives for problem behaviour Create hierarchy - Less fearful to most fearful moments - Work with a therapist at a slow pace Train them in relaxation techniques - Specific relaxation techniques for each person Anxiety-cue relaxation - When facing anxiety try to relax since you can’t be both at the same time Technology and change Types of technology Social Technology - A technology that enhances human interaction - Ex. social media, phones Biological technology - Medical technology that improves the function of the human body - Ex. Physical technology - A change in the method of creating something, to become more efficient - Assembly line with Mere technology - It exists in our society but is not essential Transforming technology - Technologies that are always changing, and evolving Technology and change: key terms Technology - Extends our natural abilities Future shock - A disorganization that society and technologies are moving too fast Hyperculture - Refers to how fast change happens in technologically advanced societies, and how that changes our values Technostress - Stress from technology not working Technosis - A very extreme dependency on technology (similar to a drug addict) unformatted household - In a household with multiple information technologies, the more devices the more likely to bring work home Luddite - A person who is opposed to technological advancement 2184 Attention engineer - Hired to make the products as addictive as possible - Use behavioural psychology to make their products for maximum additive potential Attention economy - The competitive race for attention uses more manipulative tactics to capture your attention Fragmenting attention - Breaking up your attention can permanently reduce the capacity for concentration - Social media tools cause this Magic of maybe - The high you get when you check social media can cause a 400% increase in dopamine when you get a notification (just a bit less than a cocaine high) Social meida depression - Less life satisfaction, more sadness, more depression. More likely to feel isolated, inadequate, and have lower self-confidence Intermittent rewards - rewards at irregular intervals, highly addictive Where should you focus your attention - Measure yourself against yourself Internet addiction disorder mental - Not currently included in the DSM - 5-10% population is addicted to the internet (some sources claim as high as 38%) - Symptoms are similar to other addiction - Won’t be able to eat or sleep or function as a person - Not showing up to work or school and being called out by friends and family - Will go through withdrawal symptoms Social media statistics - Globally, people spend an average of 2.5 hours a day on social networks - Many youths will spend 6 hours on average - People on their phones for more than 5 hours a day are 2 times more likely to have depressive symptoms - Only 18% of Canadians believed that social media was beneficial in 2023 - 50% of people caught distracted driving were found using social media - Hours spent on social media correlate with confidence - 57% of teen girls experience [persistent sadness or hopelessness (36% in 2011) - Since 2007 Canadian suicide rate for girls (10-14) has increased by 105% - Cognitive capacity is best when your phone is out of the room (11% improvement)  - It can take 20 minutes to refocus from phones Theories the traditional school of thought - Humans control technology Technological determinism - Once a technology has been created, we no longer have control and are just going with the flow Mcluhan four laws of technology - Looks at the impact of new communication technologies Key question/law What does this new technology enhance? - Ex. landline phone - it enhanced communication What does the new technology make obsolete - Ex. landline phone - mail What does the new technology retrieve from the past - landline - can bring back friendship when you call them When pushed to its limit, it will reverse what had been its key characteristics (flip into something new) - Ex. landline flipped into smartphones The smartphone What does this new technology enhance? - Instant gratification - Connectivity - Communication What does the new technology make obsolete - Landline phones - Camera - Scanner What does the new technology retrieve from the past - Connection to people - Data - Browser history When pushed to its limit, it will reverse what had been its key characteristics (flip into something new) - Avoiding phones calls - Distraction - Barrier to relationship Unit 3 Social trends Social trend - Large-scale changes in attitudes and behaviour with clearly identifiable patterns - Critical to institutions, government, and companies Demography - Study of human populations (different age groups, birth rates, death rates, differences in the sexes) Population pyramids - A visual tool used by demography to try to see trends and patterns from age and sex Social trends: Demographic groups Baby boom 1946-1965 - Baby boom - child-centred (more money is put into child services) - Nuclear family + breadwinner - Suburbia (to many people for cities) - Religious services - 60% attendance ( very religious, everything was closed on Sunday) - Competition ( so many people, you have to stand out to be seen) - Television (the new technology) Generation X/Bust babies 1961-1979(Gen X) 1967-1979 (baby bust) - Baby bust + why? (birth control was invented) - Shifting social values (women in the workplace, and education) + cutbacks (government cut funding for children) - Latchkey kids + work + divorces rates - More cynical + distrust - Undererempliment + compeititon - Hippe counter culture  - Negative stereotypes → proven wrong (tech startups, small business owners, + ambitions) - Computers Generation Y/Echo Boom/Millennials (1980s- 1995) - Echo Boom - ¼ canadas population - Internet age - Social justice initiative - Focus on multiculturalisms - Trophy era - Highly scheduled, over-achieving, over-manged - Collaboration, tea player Generation Z - Smaller than echo boom - Social media age + impact of technology - Growing up faster - Social justice + environments + Diversity - Touch economic markets, most educated - The world focuses on achievement → High level of anxiety - Nore guarded perspective due to challenges in the world - “Second count” → advertising - Collaborative - Want more jobs with social impact (60% vs 31% Gen Y) - Entrepreneurial - Gender roles (decline in traditional) Generation Alpha 2010+ - Researchers are currently studying this demographic group - Children of millennials - Online digital footprint from birth - For many, early childhood, defined by the pandemic - o=contant screens Multigenertaional diversity - A workforce is one comprised of people from several generations Social trends Aging boomers Statistics - According to Statistics Canada (2016), for the first time, seniors outnumber children in Canada - The aging Canadian population is expected to create an increase of about 40% in Canadian cases by 2030 - The number of Canadians living with dementia is expected to rise by 66% over the next 15 years - By 20241, seniors will have the highest rate of mental illness - 3 in 10 Canadians are family caregivers - The number of seniors who expect to need help or care will double in the next 30 years Terms dependency load - The portion of the population that is not actively employed, and not paying taxes typically children and seniors - If high government will go into debt or higher taxes - 1961 vs. 2001 (87 vs. 58) Aging: Impact on caregivers - Formal support: paid job to take care of senior - Informal support: unpaid support to a senior Developmental stake - The difference between the level of care stated between the caretaker and elderly person - This can cause resentment and stem from going from a provider role to be cared for Caregiver burden - The stress associated with providing care for an elderly person Quasi-Widowhood - That state of the person when someone's partner goes into a long-term care facility - They then enter a mourning period as if they have died Fertility trends Fertility trends in Canada - Women are having fewer children while the population is aging - The fertility rate has hit a record low of 1.3 children per woman (the lowest it’s ever been) Infertile - 1-6 couples are infertility (double since 1980) Factors affecting fertility Infertility - Medical reason (STDS, Edmotrosois) - chemicals - Age (egg quilty goes down after the age of 25) - Processed food - Heated plastic can act as estrogen and make sperm quality go down - Lifestyle (extreme stress) - Binge drinking Government intervention - Quebec (for every child born they would give money) - Russian (taxes and fine for people promating child free life style) - China (one child policy) Culture - Year of the dragon (people want babies born that year) Psycholgical impact of involuntary childleness - Involuntary childleness: want to have a child but cannot - Emotional devastionation (grieve the childern they cannot have) - Burden of reproductive technologies - very expenisve and is paid out of pocket - Government has started to pay for it Voluntary childness - Lifestyle reaton - Emotional reason - Idealistic reason - Practical reason Desingier babies - A baby whose genetic makeup has been artificially selected by genetic engineering combined in vitro fertilization to ensure the presence/absence of particular genese/characteristics