Stimulants and Barriers to Social Change
Forces stimulating social change are stronger
over time than barriers. So change is inevitable in the long term. But most
people resist change in the short term.
There are psychological, cultural, social, and economic stimulants and barriers.
Psychological
1. Perceived needs (motivates people to change)
Stimulant examples: wireless Internet
Barrier examples: sometimes people don't perceive need to change (sexual rights, birth control) or their perceived needs maintain status quo (women who "need" men)
2. Communication patterns
Stimulant examples:
experts or people with credibility --
professors
arousal of fear -- Bush
negative campaigns -- just about any politician today
present both sides of debate -- this class
present message 1st or last -- job interviews
enlist a group's help -- weight watchers
homogeneity between messenger and audience -- civil rights, women's rights
Barrier examples: heterogeneity/cultural diversity
-- physician's instruction
3. Attitude → Behavior models
behavior change required before attitude/belief change internalized
Stimulant example: involvement in activist groups, travel
Barrier examples: men who say they are not sexist, people who say they are not racist
4. Personal Influences
a. people change because they desire affection, respect, acceptance of
another person
Stimulant examples: peer effects, celebrity effects
Barrier examples: "Hillary" effect
b. anticipatory socialization
example: former students stop "skipping" when they get jobs
Cultural
1. High and low Context
Stimulant examples: low context has formal rules and communication to inform people of rules. People are loosely linked. Change is easier and quicker in this culture.
Barrier examples: high context has informal communication and rules are
communicated between individuals. People strongly connected and must interact in
order to survive. Change slow here.
Examples: Arab and Asian countries vs. European countries and U.S.
2. Cultural integration
Stimulant examples: in cultures with low integration people and organizations are less dependent on one another (or they perceive themselves to be). Change occurs easier here. People look for change. Used to change and conflict.
Barrier example: in cultures with high integration change affects everything in society because all people and organizations are tightly linked. People are not used to change. They value the security and comfort in knowing what is expected in any setting. Change is slow here.
examples: environmental vs religious groups; urban vs rural communities
3. Other Barriers to Change
fatalism: beliefs, attitudes and behaviors regarding breast cancer among AA
women
ethnocentrism: MLK activities, patriotism (sometimes)
Social
1. Desire for prestige -- status seeking behavior
Stimulant examples: TV diffusion, SUVs, professional sports
Barrier examples: women's rights, civil rights for people of color, LGBT issues
2. Contact with other societies
Stimulant examples: travel/tourism (Levi's), war, professional conferences
Barrier examples: ignorance and fear of unknown leads people to avoid difference (people of color, people of different sexualities)
3. Friendships
Stimulant examples: participation in activist groups
Barrier examples: some religious groups
4. Social class
Upper classes more likely to adopt change because they have more resources. Class issues/power sometimes help maintain status quo.
Stimulant examples: cars with safety features, solar energy, environmental protections, anti-smoking
Barrier examples: gas pumping in NJ, pig farms
5. Authority/Power (**)
informal and formal (laws)
Stimulant examples: vaccines, fluoride in water, war (conscription), evacuation, recycling, children and parent's smoking/seat belts
Barriers examples: Peter Principle, abuse of power -- legal (keating 5, Helms), informal -- men's authority over women and women buying into it supports male privilege
6. Fit with culture
Stimulant examples: wireless phones
Barriers examples: '360' evaluations, segway
7. Timing
Stimulant examples: war with Iraq
Barriers examples: new teacher training programs during standardized testing
8. Participation in process
Stimulant examples: campus Blue Ribbon Task Force includes students, Kristi and Sarah's project
Barriers examples: annexation, community development plans
9. Competition
Stimulant examples: lighter laptops, cheaper desktops
Barriers examples: Microsoft software
10. Group Mobilization
Stimulant examples: movements, doctors in Greenville, Moral Majority and Disney
Barriers examples: NRA, solidarity in groups often leads members to resist change within the group (March of Dimes, NOW, NAACP)
11. Ideology/rationalization/habit/tradition -- barriers
Examples:
traditional gender ideology resists change in sexual civil rights (opposition to
gay men/lesbians) and change in family structure (men as primary
parents/domestic engineers)
women as religious leaders
catholic church and birth control
patriotism used to support war
smoking (habit)
nutrition and fried foods (tradition)
Economic
1. Perception of Economic Advantage
Stimulant examples: 401k's, affirmative action
Barriers examples: health care reform, minimum wage increases, environmental regulation
2. Costs
Stimulant examples: my textbooks, car seats for kids
Barriers examples: "segway", unfunded mandates, environmental protections
Social costs: remove stigma if you want people to adopt change (ex. women and condoms, Medicare 'cards')
3. Vested interests
Stimulant examples: industrialization, NAFTA, deregulation of savings loans/phone companies/air travel, War with Iraq and oil/open Arab markets
Barriers examples: midwifery, zoning, legalization of marijuana/war on drugs, money to support DSS
4. Limited environmental/social resources -- Barrier
Some countries do not have surplus of land, water, oil,
forests, coal,
etc... or skilled labor, or infrastructures to match labor to resources.
This leads to slow change.
At the individual level, some people do not have time/energy to get involved in
social changes.