What Is Social Stability?

Social stability is a sociological perspective that states a group always seeks to maintain equilibrium by forcing out ideas and individuals that disagree with popular opinion. This helps keep society in balance and promotes harmonious coexistence. A lack of social stability causes revolution and unrest in the group.

Social stability focuses on how all the various parts of society fit together. It is a mindset that strives for fluidity in every interaction within a group, prioritizing and rewarding behaviors that the group wants to encourage and finding ways to publicly discourage unwanted activities. This sociological theory is also referred to as social equilibrium because it is based on the idea that all social circles want to remain in harmony and exclude thoughts and actions that stand in opposition to that outcome.

This principle is popular in dogmatic societies, exclusive groups and religious circles. It opposes outside opinions and instead tries to emphasize cooperation with other members of society to maintain a stable network.

Social stability often undergoes minor changes over the passage of time. As new methods of communication and types of technology emerge, cultures take on the aspects that fit their ideologies and make their lives easier. This in turn results in modification of what is accepted as part of social stability in the long run.