1.5 Minority influence

Question 1

What is minority influence?

Answer 1

A type of social influence that motivates indivs to reject established maj group norms

This is achieved via conversion where the maj gradually converts to the min group viewpoint

Question 2

Which type of conformity does minority influence lead to?

Answer 2

Internalisation - people genuinely come to accept the views as right and their own

Question 3

Which 3 factors affect the success of minority influence?

Answer 3

• Consistency
• Commitment
• Flexibility

Question 4

How does consistency affect minority influence?

Answer 4

A consistent message from a min group encourages members of the maj rethink their own views

Question 5

What are the two types of consistency?

Answer 5

• Synchronic consistency

* Diachronic consistency

Question 6

What is synchronic consistency?

Answer 6

Consistency between min members – all members agree and back each other up

Question 7

What is diachronic consistency?

Answer 7

Consistency over time – the min maintains its views and does not change them over time

Question 8

How does commitment affect minority influence?

Answer 8

Commitment, particularly in acts of self-sacrifice, helps gain the attention of the majority - they recognise the conviction of the min - leads to the augmentation principle and more people consider their own view on the issue

Question 9

How does flexibility affect minority influence?

Answer 9

If a min shows consistency but also a willingness to compromise - by adapting point of view and accepting reasonable counter-arguments - they will not appear unreasonably rigid

Question 10

What is the snowball effect and how does it relate to minority influence?

Answer 10

The snowball effect occurs when people begin to defect to the min position - as this happens more and more ppl defect until eventually the min view is now the maj

Question 11

What research has been done into minority influence?

Answer 11

Moscovici et al study of the influence of a consistent minority

Question 12

What were Moscovici et al’s aims?

Answer 12

• To investigate if a consistent min could influence a maj to give an incorrect answer on an unambiguous colour perception task

Question 13

What was Moscovici et al’s procedure?

Answer 13

• 172 female Pps placed into 32 groups of 6 w 4 Pps & 2 confeds
• Each group shown 36 slides of varying shades of blue - Pps asked to verbally identify if slide was blue or green
• In the consistent condition, the two confeds said that all 36 slides were green - in the inconsistent condition, the confeds said 24 of the slides were green and 12 were blue

Question 14

What did Moscovici et al find?

Answer 14

• 8.2% agreement w min in consistent condition - 32% agreed at least once
• 1.25% agreement w min in inconsistent condition

Question 15

What did Moscovici et al conclude?

Answer 15

• Although 8.2% seems low, it is relatively much > 1.25% - shows min influence is small but consistency is most important variable

Question 16

What support is there for minority influence?

Answer 16

• Support for consistency - Moscovici research showed consistent minority opinion has greater effects on other ppl than inconsistent opinion - Wood et al M-A of almost 100 similar studies - found minorities who were seen as consistent were most influential - suggests consistency is maj factor in min influence
• Research supports internalisation - in variation of Moscovici’s study, Pps were allowed to write answers down - priv agreement w minority was greater in these circumstances - appears members of maj were convinced by min but reluctant to admit this publicly - Moscovici thought this was bc they didn’t want to be associated w minority - supports idea that min influence leads to internalisation

Question 17

What reduces support for minority influence?

Answer 17

• Moscovici biased sample - Sample was 172 female Pps from America - cannot generalise to other populations e.g. males or other cultures - gynocentric and ethnocentric as only focuses on behav of American women in such a situation - research often suggests females conform more readily than men - further research required to determine effect of min influence on males to determine generalisability
• Lack of external validity - min influence studies involve identifying colour of slide - lacks mundane realism as it is not an everyday activity - in cases like jury decision-making, outcomes more important - perhaps effect of min influence should be tested in situations w social consequences - studies like Moscovici’s lack external validity