minority influence

Question 1

define minority influence

Answer 1

A form of social influence where members of the majority group change their beliefs or behaviours as a result of their exposure to a persuasive minority

Question 2

what behavioural styles must the minority adopt in order to allow minority influecne to occur

Answer 2

1) commitment
2) consistency
3) flexibility

Question 3

define consistency

Answer 3

stability in the expressed position over time and agreement among different members of the minority

Question 4

out line why a minority group must remain consistent

Answer 4

1) it causes the majority to reassess the situation and consider the issue more carefully
2) ensures the majority that if the minority are confident enough to maintain their position over time and with each other their situation must have a good back bone

Question 5

define commitment

Answer 5

the degree to which members of the minority are dedicated to a particular cause or activity

Question 6

outline why a minority group must be committed

Answer 6

1) important in the influence process because it suggests certainty, confidence, and courage in the face of a hostile majority
2) the greater the commitment the more likely the majority will join the minority

Question 7

define flexibility

Answer 7

a willingness to be flexible and to compromise when expressing a position

Question 8

outline why a minority group needs to be flexible

Answer 8

1) the minority is less powerful than the majority, therefore, must negotiate their position
2) they must not be too rigid in their argument otherwise they may come across as dogmatic or narrow-minded
3) if they become too flexible they may risk being seen as inconsistent

Question 9

outline Moscovici’s procedure of his study

Answer 9

1) groups comprising of 4 naive pps and a minority of 2 confederates showed a series of blue slides which varied in intensity
2) they were asked to judge the color of each slide
3) in the consistent condition the minority repeatedly called the blue slide green
4) in the inconsistent condition the minority called the sliding green in only 2/3 trials

Question 10

outline the findings of Moscovici’s study

Answer 10

1) the consistent minority influenced naive PPS so say green 8% of the trials
2) inconsistent minority exerted little influence which failed to differ from the control group

Question 11

evaluate minority influence

Answer 11

1) research support for flexibility- group members discussed the amount of compensation to be paid to someone involved in a ski-lift accident. when a confederate put forward an alternative point of view and refused to change position it had no effect. a confederate who compromised exerted influence on the group. however, influence is only effective in individuals who shifted later than earlier. This suggests that flexibility is only effective at changing opinion in certain circumstances
2) studies investigating minority influence based in the lab which doesn’t represent real life, most the groups consisted of students who had never met each other before, compared to real minority groups which are likely to have stood together for long periods of time. therefore decreases ecological validity
3) Moscovici used a biased sample consisting of only 172 female students. as a result, we are unable to generalize results across other populations such as males as we cant conclude that they would act the same or different from the female PPS. Furthermore, research suggests females are more likely to confirm in social situations. Therefore further research is needed to investigate the effects of minority influence on male participants