Lesson 11: Minority influence

Question 1

What is minority influence?

Answer 1

Process by which very small persuasive groups or individuals can CHANGE the way the MAJORITY thinks

Question 2

What did Moscovici (1985) consider minority influence leads to?

Answer 2

Conversion

Question 3

What is conversion?

Answer 3

When individuals change their private beliefs and views because of MINORITY influence

Question 4

How are minority influences more likely to be convincing?
(Hint: CCF)

Answer 4

By being:
1) Commited
2) Consistent
3) Flexible

Question 5

What is meant by Commitment?

Answer 5

Commitment is shown when members of the MINORITY demonstrate dedication to their belief

This can be shown by:

1) making SACRIFICES (augmentation principle)
2) being inconvenienced in some way

Question 6

What is meant by consistency?

Answer 6

minority repeatedly gives the SAME MESSAGE

making the MAJORITY REASSESS their belief and consider the issue more carefully

Question 7

What is meant by being Flexible?

Answer 7

flexibility is when a MINORITY shows they are willing to listen to OTHER VIEWPOINTS

-The majority will then listen to the minority and take their argument more seriously

Question 8

What is the Snowball effect?

Answer 8

Process by which the minority initially has a SMALL EFFECT but this then spreads, as more and more people consider the issue being RAISED, until it reaches a TIPPING point minority-> majority

Question 9

What is social- crypto amnesia?

Answer 9

a FAILURE to remember the origin of a change, in which people know that a change has occurred in society, but FORGET how this change occurred

Question 10

State a POSITIVE evaluation of minority influence
(Hint: slideshows +Consistency vs inconsistency)

Answer 10

+ Moscovici (1969) told 172 female participants that they were taking part in a
colour perception task.

The naïve participants = groups of six and were shown 36 slides, which were varying shades of BLUE.

Two of the six participants =confederates. The participants had to state out loud the
colour of each slide.

Consistent condition:
confederates said the slide was GREEN in all 36 trials.

Inconsistent condition:
confederates said that 24 of the slides=GREEN + 12=BLUE.

Findings:
-CONSISTENT condition participants were SWAYED by the minority 8.2% of the time.
INCONSISTENT condition participants only went along with the minority 1.25% of the time.

This shows that a CONSISTENT minority is more effective than an inconsistent minority

Question 11

State a negative evaluation of minority influence
(Hint: gender biased sample)

Answer 11

• The samples of studies into minority influence are GENDER biased.

-Moscovici (1969) only used women. AS A RESULT, we cannot conclude that
MALE participants would respond to minority influence in the same way.

Research often suggests that WOMEN are more likely to CONFORM than men,
therefore further research is needed to determine the effect of minority
influence on male participants.

Question 12

State a NEGATIVE evaluation of minority influence
(Hint: Culture bias)

Answer 12

• The samples of studies into minority influence are also CULTURALLY biased
  because all of the participants were from AMERICA.

-As a result, the findings cannot be GENERALISED to other populations.

-We cannot conclude that participants from other cultures would respond to minority influence in the same way

Question 13

State a NEGATIVE evaluation of MINORITY influence
(Hint: laboratory + ecological validity)

Answer 13

• Most of the studies into minority influence are based on experiments
  conducted in LABORATORIES.

-This raises the question of ECOLOGICAL validity.

-The participants in laboratory experiments are usually a collection of students who
do not know each other, and will probably never meet again.