15 - minority influence ao1 Flashcards
what is minority influence?
when a minority changes the attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of a majority (social influence)
what are the three factors that can enhance the effectiveness of minority influence?
consistency, commitment and flexibility
who investigated minority influence in a colour perception task?
moscovici
what was moscovici’s sample? (number and gender)
172 females
how many participants were in each group in moscovici’s study
6
what type of conformity is minority influence most likely to lead to?
internalisation
how many slides were moscovici’s participants shown?
36
what colours were the slides in moscovici’s study
varying shades of blue
what was moscovici’s task for each participant
state out loud the colour of each slide
how many of the six participants in moscovici’s study were confederates
two
what were moscovici’s two conditions?
consistent (said all 36 slides were green) and inconsistent (24 were green and 12 were blue)
in moscovici’s consistent condition, the real participants agreed on what percent of the trials?
8.2%
in moscovici’s inconsistent condition, the real participants agreed on what percent of the trials?
1.25%
moscovici’s study shows that a consistent minority is what percent more effective than an inconsistent minority?
6.95%
what does moscovici’s study show about consistency in minority influence?
consistency is an important factor in minority influence
what fraction of the participants judged moscovici’s slides to be green at least once?
1/3
what does research suggest about flexibility during minority influence
minorities require a degree of flexibility to remain persuasive, rigid and dogmatic minorities are less effective
who investigated the idea of flexibility?
nemeth
what was nemeth’s task?
groups of 4 participants had to agree on the amount of compensation they would give to a victim of a ski lift accident
how many people in each of nemeth’s group was a confederate?
one
what were the two conditions in nemeth’s study?
- when the minority argued for a low rate of compensation and refused to change his position
- when the minority argued for a low rate of compensation but compromised by offering a slightly higher rate of compensation (flexible)
what did nemeth find in each condition?
inflexible = minority had little or no effect on the majority
flexible = majority was much more likely to compromise and change their view
what does nemeth’s research highlight the importance of and what does it question?
flexibility, but questions the idea of consistency (moscovici)
what is the augmentation principle?
if minorities show their dedication to the cause through sacrifice, making their influence more powerful
what is group membership in terms of minority influence leading to social change?
when the minority is similar to the majority and so more likely to be influential
who investigated group membership?
maass et al
how did maass et al show group membership through straight men?
found that a minority of heterosexual men were more likely to convince a heterosexual majority about gay rights, in comparison to a minority of homosexual people
define consistency and how it can influence the majority
group maintains the same point of view, others may start to rethink their own views
what are the two ways that minority influence is consistent?
synchronic (saying same thing) and diachronic (saying same thing for some time)
define commitment and how it can influence the majority
minorities take part in extreme activities that demonstrate their pledge to the cause, leading people to question their own views (augmentation principle)
define flexibility and how it can influence the majority
members of the minority adopt and accept valid counter arguments, increases their like ability and the chance of them changing their own minds
what is the snowball effect?
over time, increasing numbers of people switch from the majority to the minority position (converted) as they gather more people. the more this happens, the faster the rate of conversion
