ABSTRACT
Large-scale changes in society, such as the Industrial Revolution, consist ultimately of changes in the behaviour of a large number of individuals, and are initiated by the behaviour of a smaller number of other individuals. In principle, therefore, social psychology should be able to throw some light on what happens. Most research in social psychology has, however, been carried out in much more limited social settings. In this paper we shall consider research into the social psychological basis of social change in three settings which have been extensively studied —small social groups, social organizations, and the spread of ideologies in the community. We shall see that certain common principles about the basis of social change will emerge, and we shall then consider how far these principles can illuminate wider social changes. In this connexion we shall examine theories such as Hagen's and McClelland's about the origins of social change, and see what use can be made of empirical evidence about national character and patterns of child-rearing. This is an unfamiliar type of data for social historians, and the evidence of social psychology may seem rather remote from the phenomena of historical change. Nevertheless, there is a great deal of carefully collected empirical evidence concerning the more limited types of change that we shall consider, and it is hoped that some light may be thrown on the processes of social interaction involved in other kinds of social change.
