Factors in Minority Influence

Question 1

Define Minority influence?

What is it regarded as?

Answer 1

• Social influence that motivates people to reject established majority group norms
• Achieved through a process of conversion
• Conversion involves new belief/behaviour being accepted publicly & privately
• Strong conformity & internalisation

Question 2

What are the 3 factors of minority influence?

Answer 2

1. Consistency
2. Commitment
3. Flexibility

Question 3

Outline consistency?
2 types

Answer 3

• Synchronic consistency: agreements within the minority group opinion
• e.g. making other rethink their view
• Diachronic consistency: consistency over time, saying the same things
• e.g. they’ve been saying the same thing for ages

Question 4

Outline commitment?

Answer 4

• Minority groups engage in extreme behaviour to draw attention to their views
• Action demonstrates commitment to their cause (augmentation principle)
• Makes majority group pay attention
• e.g. If someone is risking imprisonment for their actions

Question 5

Outline flexibility?

Answer 5

• If minority are unbending & uncompromising this is unattractive to the majority
• Must compromise & accept reasonable counter-arguments
• e.g. not protesting at a funeral because the majority feels its disrespectful

Question 6

What was the aim of Moscovici (1969) study into minority influence?

Answer 6

• To see whether a consistent minority of Pt’s could influence a majority to give an incorrect answer in a colour perception test

Question 7

Procedure of Moscovici (1969)?

Answer 7

• 172 female American Pt’s with good eyesight
• 6 Pt’s asked to estimate 36 colour slides (all slides were blue, but differed in brightness)
• 2/6 Pt’s were confederates
• There were 2 conditions:
  
  • Consistent condition: 2 confederates called slides green on all trials
  • Inconsistent condition: 2 confederates called slides green 24 times & blue 12 times

Question 8

Results of Moscovici (1969)?

Answer 8

• Consistent condition: 8.4% conformity
• Inconsistent condition: 1.4%

Question 9

AO3 Minority influence
Research support?
Moscovici (1969)
Lacks ecological validity?

Answer 9

P - Strength of minority influence is research support
E - Moscovici found Pt’s were more likely to conform to a minority group if they were consistent
- 8.4% conformity if consistent
- 1.3% conformity if inconsistent
L - Means being consistent in views is more likely to influence the majority rather than inconsistent
P - However research like Moscovici was a lab experiment & so lacks ecological validity
E - This is an issue because in order to establish accurate results in a theory relying heavily on social interaction involving controversial convo, this makes research futile as its not applicable to a genuine scenario

Question 10

AO3 Minority influence
Alternative explanation?
Maas & homos

Answer 10

P - There is alternative research for minority influence that suggests MI is more complex
E - Identification depends on the group
- Maas found when homosexual minority groups were fighting for rights this was not as effective vs heterosexual minority groups rallying for homosexual rights
E - Was due to heterosexual group identifying with the majority
L - Suggests how minorities are influenced in more complex than originally proposed

Question 11

AO3 Minority influence
Low explanatory power?

Answer 11

P - Issue is that MI has low explanatory power
E - e.g. In real life members of women’s, gay, animal & environmental protection groups such as Greenpeace & different from Pt’s in lab experiments
- They operate in different settings with differing constraints & aims
E - They often face more determined opposition, committed to a cause & can devote their lives to changing majority views/norms
L - Implies the explanation may not be representative or real life minority groups seeking to influence the majority

Question 12

AO3 Minority influence
Practical applications?

Answer 12

P - One strength is practical applications of MI
E - e.g. the peace movement during the Vietnam war protested against U.S. involvement in Vietnam due to the cost of life for American servicemen in conjunction with the Civil rights movement
E - This resulted in mass support domestically but also internationally highlighting the importance of ending the war
L - Therefore this shows other people in society can commit to changing the status quo through minority influence for the benefit of society