21 Examples of Social Change in Various Cultures

Examples of Social Change – Discussion of social change in people’s lives is one of the major themes in the study of sociology. However, if at the junior high school level, there are subjects in Social Sciences.

The occurrence of a social change will always be related to behavior and social relations in society, provided that this behavior applies subjectively. Well, that’s why there are so many examples of social change, not just in the fields of agriculture and education, but also in all fields that exist in people’s daily lives.

So, what are some examples of social change? Come on, see the following reviews!

What Is Social Change?

Before discussing how examples of social change, it’s good to understand what social change is.

According to the Ministry of Education and Culture, social change is the changes that occur in society, including the social system which includes values, attitudes, and patterns of behavior . Not only in the social system, but also in culture, which includes art, science, to the technology used, will cause changes both in the direction of progress (progress) and regress (setback).

Every society must experience change, not only in urban areas, but also in rural areas. As previously stated, this change occurs in all members of society, both the elderly and the young.

What has changed? That includes changes in social norms, social patterns, social interaction between people, behavior patterns, social organizations, social institutions, to the arrangement of power and authority that applies in a society.

A sociologist named Kingsley Davis even said that social change is also part of cultural change, so that it can be said that social change will always go hand in hand with cultural change.

What has changed in this field of culture? Namely covering regional arts, science, philosophy, technology used, to forms and rules in social organization.

Then, why can the changes that occur be in the form of progress or regress? It is almost the same as the good and bad effects that are obtained from everything.

Of course, social change can provide progress (progress) because it creates convenience for the people to make ends meet. However, social change will not always provide progress, of course it can even provide a regression for society in certain aspects.

Examples of Social Change

In Economics

Of course, social change will affect the economy, because social society cannot be separated from the economy. Even a country’s economy will depend on its people.

1. Prefer Imported Products

At present, people from the upper middle class to the lower middle class always prefer imported or made products from abroad. Even though some of them are imitated or KW (imitation goods), people still think that imported products will always be of better quality.

In fact, such thinking is not always true. Currently, there are many products with local brands whose quality is no joke, you know…

2. Owe

In ancient times, debt was a shameful act, even people did their best not to do this. However, there are social changes as well as changing times, making foresting and repaying it a habit.

The existence of debt and installment habits is increasingly ‘favorite’ for many people in line with a consumptive lifestyle. On average, they even pay in installments to buy secondary necessities that are expensive, for the sake of a hedonistic lifestyle.

In fact, it’s okay to owe and repay in installments if it’s paid regularly so it doesn’t harm other parties.

3. Corruption

Indeed, humans have characteristics that tend to never be satisfied with what they have and always think of themselves. From this, the longer the culture of corruption grows, which of course is very detrimental to the state and other people.

Almost the same as the previous point, most people who commit corruption are for the hedonistic lifestyle.

4. Consumptive Lifestyle

This consumptive lifestyle is very applicable in society, especially in this day and age. Moreover, now there are e-commerce applications or online stores that are aggressively offering discounts to free shipping. This of course seems to “help” a consumptive lifestyle to become more developed.

A simple example is a smartphone factory that every three months, always releases the latest series of smartphone products and the public seems to be competing to buy the newest series of smartphones, even though at that time, their smartphones were still good to use.

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5. Awareness of Saving Increases

Even though the social changes in the economic sector actually have a regressive impact on the community, there is also an impact of progress, namely people’s awareness to save is increasing.

This may be due to attractive offers from banks to encourage people to actively save for a better life in the future. Not only awareness of saving, but also awareness of insurance.


In the Field of Education

Social changes that occur in the field of education are usually in line with technological developments. Moreover, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic as it is today, teaching and learning activities must rely heavily on technology and the internet.

1. Educational Curriculum

Certainly Sinaumed’s is no stranger to the phrase “replace the education minister, the education curriculum will also change”.

Then, does the curriculum have that much influence in the field of education? Of course yes. If the curriculum in education is changed, then the way of teaching, the material taught, learning methods, and subjects will also change.

This social change depends on the development of community members as well.

2. Learning Methods

In this case, the most obvious example that can be observed is during the current Covid-19 pandemic. The learning method is not only in a few schools, even all schools, especially those with good internet quality, will definitely rely on laptops and tablet PCs.

Through the Zoom application, Google Classmeet, to Google Meet, students and teachers can interact remotely and carry out learning as usual. In fact, many schools have provided Wi-Fi to make it easier for students to access the internet and find learning resources.

3. How to Teach

If in ancient times, teachers used blackboards as learning media, now due to social changes, things have changed. The existence of blackboards is of course still used, but for other learning media, there has been an innovation, namely the use of projectors.

In fact, today’s teachers are required to develop unique and creative learning media in order to attract the attention of students to want to learn. So, during the Covid-19 pandemic as it is today, teachers will usually provide educational videos as a way of teaching.

4. Violence

Did Sinaumed’s know that in ancient times the teachers always treated their students roughly, even playing hands. This is done not because the teachers hate their students, but so that their students understand what they are saying.

However, times have passed and social changes are also increasingly providing changes in the field of education today. Now, the Child Protection Act has been passed so as to minimize any acts of violence that teachers might commit against their students.

Even though the Child Protection Act has been passed, it doesn’t mean that students can also act arbitrarily or be impolite to their teachers, right?

In the Field of Culture

Previously, it was discussed that cultural change is also part of social change. In cultural change, it will be in line with cultural elements universally, which include a) Religious systems and religious ceremonies; b) Social systems and organizations; c) Knowledge system; d) Language; e) Art; f) Live livelihood system; g) Technology systems and equipment.

1. Language

Social change will coexist with the process of globalization, so that western culture, including foreign languages, will also be recognized by the public. The clearest example related to this social change is the use of foreign languages ​​which are given more priority.

However, that does not mean that a foreign language is an unimportant skill. Precisely a foreign language can make us easy in all things, including learning and getting a job. Therefore, although the ability to speak a foreign language is important, never forget the local language and the language of your own country 

2. Art

Art is of course related to cultural change, that is, nowadays the culture itself is increasingly being abandoned by its devotees. An example is the Reog art, young people have slowly abandoned it and are reluctant to learn it because of the notion that this art is tacky.

However, not all traditional arts were abandoned by young people. There are still many that are increasingly popular and have even been intensively introduced by tourists, for example the ogoh-ogoh art.

3. Belief System

This belief system is related to the teachings of the ancestors so that it will be more mystical in practice. However, because there have been social changes that are also in harmony with cultural changes, people have been able to think about things logically in these traditional beliefs.

For example, in the MotoGP Qualification which was held at the Mandalika Circuit on Lombok Island in 2022, a rain handler was brought in to ‘drive away’ the heavy rain which of course made the event unable to take place.

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Some people, especially in urban areas, consider the existence of a rain handler to be a joke and part of the ‘entertainment’ of the MotoGP Qualification event. However, some others think that the rain charmer really has the ability to ‘drive away’ the rain, because they often rely on this ability for weddings and other cultural events.

4. Music

Music is of course included in culture, so that social change will go hand in hand with the process of cultural change. For example, in ancient times, the music genres that were often played by the public were jazz, campursari, keroncong, and dangdut.

However, along with the development of socio-cultural changes, music genres have also increased, for example rock, hip hop, to EDM. Not only that, today’s youth also ‘refuse’ to listen to campursari and keroncong music because they are considered too old.

5. Culture

This culture does not only occur in western culture, but also in cultures in other Asian countries. One of them is the culture of celebrating Valentine’s Day on February 14th. This culture is of course not our culture, but because of the socio-cultural changes that have occurred in society, it has made young people actively celebrate Valentine’s Day every year.

6. Livelihoods

In ancient times, a person’s livelihood depended on the environment in which he lived. If you live in the mountains, most of the population will work as vegetable farmers. On the other hand, those who live on the coast will work as fishermen and produce sea salt.

However, due to socio-cultural and technological changes, livelihoods are now no longer limited to fishermen, farmers, laborers, traders and teachers. There are many new professions that can be found today, for example Content Writer, Photographer, Data Analyst, to Buzzer.

7. Manners

These manners are related to cultural elements, because the culture of courtesy has developed from the time of our ancestors to the present. Unfortunately, nowadays, this culture is dwindling. Young people have started to dare to argue and even snap at their parents’ advice.

Merely to say “Excuse me” when passing by parents is rarely done, although not all young people behave that way.

In the Field of Communication

1. Communication Between Countries

Technological progress is also part of social change, because it really helps society (progress). If in ancient times, communication with other people, especially those outside the country, took a very long time. Right now, it’s enough to use social media to communicate.

Not only with people who are already known, but social media that has developed can also help us find colleagues.

2. Cyber ​​Crime

The existence of cyber crime or cyber crime may be called only in today’s era, because it is supported by increasingly sophisticated technology. Actually, this cyber crime is the negative impact of the use of technology. An example is bullying by issuing evil words in the comments column of other people’s posts on social media, account hijacking, to breaking into personal or institutional websites.

In Field Mode

1.Fashion

Fashion, especially in the way of dressing, is of course influenced by socio-cultural changes. In ancient times, it was very common for young women to use kebaya as everyday clothes or work clothes.

However, currently, the use of the kebaya is only on certain occasions or events, for example on Kartini’s Day. Even so, most institutions or schools have enacted rules to wear traditional clothes on certain days.

It’s the same with hairstyles that are included in fashion. In ancient times, hairstyles for both men and women were standardized and emphasized neatness. Well, nowadays, many hairstyles have been developed with the use of hair dye to make it more attractive.

In Technology

1. Games 

In ancient times, especially traditional games would be played by children as entertainment after school or reciting the Koran in the afternoon. The existence of this traditional game is of course a place for direct interaction between children and their friends.

However, social changes that occur today are related to technological changes. At present, many game technologies have developed which indirectly make children rarely interact with their friends.

2. Transportation

In ancient times, transportation, both on land, sea and air, to order tickets took a long time. Even had to jostle beforehand with other passengers.

Now, nowadays, with socio-cultural and technological changes, ordering transportation tickets can be done only via a smartphone. Even to order a motorcycle taxi, we don’t need to walk to the motorcycle taxi stand at the end of the road. Simply by using a transportation service provider application, you can choose whether you want to drive a motorcycle or car transportation.

Well, that’s an explanation of an example of social change that has occurred in Indonesian society. Even though these social changes have negative and positive impacts because they are in line with globalization, of course we as the younger generation must be smart in sorting out which changes can provide progress and which are not.