4.1.1 MINORITY INFLUENCE

Question 1

what is minority influence?

Answer 1

• when a small group of ppl or an indictable changed the attitudes, behaviours and beliefs of the majority
• is the opposite of conformity, where the majority are influencing other to join them

Question 2

what does minority influence create?
what’s it likely to lead to?

Answer 2

a conversation whereby ppl consider the message itself + ppl want to understand why the minority hold this position

likely to lead to internalisation

Question 3

what is internalisation?

Answer 3

• take beliefs of the group on board
• type on conformity
• permanent change

Question 4

Moscovici (1969) found there were three main processes of minority influence
what are they?

Answer 4

1) consistency
2) commitment
3) flexibility

Question 5

what is consistency?

what is synchronic and diachronic consistency?

Answer 5

• keep the same beliefs over time and between all the individuals that make up the minority
• it gets ppl to rethink their own opinions due to:

-> synchronic consistency = theyre all saying the same thing
-> diachronic consistency = they’ve been saying the same thing for a long period of time

Question 6

what is commitment?

Answer 6

• minority demonstrating dedication to their position
  eg) making personal sacrifices
• this then may cause them to rethink their own opinions
• this is called the augumentation principle

Question 7

what is flexibility?

Answer 7

• the minority must be able to adapt their point of view and accept reasonable + valid counter opinions
• minority have to be able to have a balance between both consistency and flexibility
• cannot be dogmatic in their views

Question 8

what is the snowball effect?

Answer 8

• over time, increasing numbers of ppl switch from a majority position to the minority position
• they’ve become ‘converted’
• the more this happens, the faster the rate of conversion
• this is called the snowball effect

Question 9

what was the aim of Moscovi et al. (1969) Blue-Green study of conformity?

Answer 9

• to demonstrate the influence of social conformity

Question 10

what was the procedure of Moscovi et al. (1969) Blue-Green study of conformity?

Answer 10

• group of 6 ppl were asked to view set of 36 blue coloured slides that varied in intensity
• stated whether the slides were blue or green
• in each group there were 2 confederates who consistently said the slides were green on 2/3 of the trials
• 2nd group of ppts were exposed to an inconsistent minority
• 3rd group = no confederates and all ppts had to do was identify the colour

Question 11

what were the findings of Moscovi et al. (1969) Blue-Green study of conformity?

Answer 11

• ppts gave the wrong answer on 8.42% of trials

1) 32% gave the same answer as the minority on at least 1 trial
2) agreement fell to 1.25%
3) got it wrong on only 0.25% of the trials

Question 12

what are some cons of Moscovici’s study?

Answer 12

1) used female students as ppts
- females are said to be more conformist than males

2) we can argue 4 ppl aren’t enough for a group + couldn’t be considered as the majority

3) members of women’s, gays + animal rights organisations, members of pressure groups like Greenpeace are very different from ppts in lab studies
- they operate in different settings w different constraints
- often face much more determined opposition
- are committed to a cause, often know each other, procide each other w considerable social support + sometimes devote their lives to changing the views on the majority

4) power and status
- lab studies are unable to represent + stimulate the whole differences in power + status that often seperate majorities and minorities