1. Universality : All human societies change. This could include changes in population, beliefs, tools, attire, customs, roles, music, art, architecture etc. Social change is universal as it takes place everywhere. This change is not uniform as it takes place at differing speeds.
2. Continuous speed : There is continuity of change in society. Right from the emergence of human society from the times of nomadic cave dwellers to the present, every aspect of human life and living has changed.
3. Temporal : Social change is temporal as it denotes a time sequence. Innovations of new things, modifications and renovation of the existing phenomena and the discarding of the old takes time.
4. Interactional chain reaction : The physical, biological, technological, cultural, social economic and other factors may together bring about social change. This is due to mutual interdependence of social phenomenon. Thus, for example, a huge increase in school fees will have an impact on student enrolment.
5. Neutrality : The term social change has no value judgment attached to it. As a phenomenon, it is neither moral nor immoral it is amoral. It is ethically neutral.
6. Short term and long-term change : Some social changes may bring about immediate results while some others may take years or decades to produce results. The purchase of new gadgets for the purpose of entertainment is faster if one has the purchasing capacity when compared to giving up social evils like dowry, early marriage or domestic violence.
7. Planned or unplanned changes : Unplanned changes happens suddenly and is not planned. For example, when a natural disaster takes place, there is a loss of human and animal lives as well as property. Rehabilitation programmes, some purposeful and planned changes promoted by the government are examples of planned change.