Minority Influence Flashcards
MINORTIY INFLEUNCE REFERS TO
Situations where ine person or small group influences the beliefs and behaviours of other people
minortiy infleunce is distinct from
conformity
why is minority infleunce different from conformity
in conformity the majority are doing the influencing
in minority influence nad conformity people being influenced may be who
just one person
small group
large group
minority infleunce most likely leads to what type of conformity
internalisation - both public behaviour and private beliefs are changed by the process
outline moscovi green slide study
group of 6 people asked to view set of 36 blue coloured slides that varied in intensity then state whether they blue or green
in each group 2 confederates who consistently said slides were green
true participant then gave same wrong answer (green) on 8.42 % of trials -w hihc was agreeing with conederates
2nd group of pt exposed to an incosisten minority , in this case agreement with teh answer green fell to 1/25%
A minority must be consistent in its viewpoint (members must be in agreement) if it is going to influence the opinions of a majority.
state three main processes in minority influence
consistency
commitment
flexibility
minority must be x in their views
consistent
what does consistency mean
majority stick to beleifes - if dont no one tak eyou seriously if constantly change mind
overtime consistency increases what from other people
amount of interest from other people
consitency can take form of agreement between
people in minortiy group (synchronic consistency )
consitency over time (diachronic consistency)
synchronic consistency is when
theyre all saying same thing
diachronic consistency is when
theyve been saying same thing for some time now
a consistency minortity makes other people
start to rethink their own views e.g maybe got a point if they keep saying it
what must a minortiy demonstrate tot heir cause or views
commitment
how do some minorities draw attention to their views
engage in quite extreme activities
what is important about extreme activites and why
present some risk to minority
as shows greater commitment
what does majority group do when minority show consistency through doing extreme activities
pay even more attention e.g wow they must really beleive in what theyre saying i should consider her view
whats augmentaiton principle
when the majority value the importance of the cause - as the minority are risking their lives for it
nemeth argued whats not the only important factor in minority influence
consistency
why did nementh argue consitency not only importnat factor in minority influence
can be off putting
how will someone whos extremley consitent repeats same behaviours and arguments be percieved
rigid
unbending
dogmatic
consitency on its own is unlikely to
gain many ocnverts to the minortiy position
flexiblity is when
members of minority prepared to adapt their POV and accept reasonable and valid counterargument
key is to strike
balance between flexiblity and consistency
hear something new , why may we think more deeply about it
if source of this view is consitent, commited and flexible
what important in process of converting to a different minortiy viewpoint
deeper processing which is important
in minority infleucen what happens overtime
overtime increasing numbers of people switched from majority position to minority position
theyve become converted
what speeds up the rate of conversion
the more people switch from majority to minority positon
snowball effect is
when more people are switching from majority to minority posiiton
in minority infleunce what gradually happens
minortiy view has become majority view and change has occured
whos stuyd and other research helped draw conclusion about the 3 processes in minoruty influence
MOSCOVICI blue green slide xp
strengt moscovi researcher support
strength of research into minority influence is research evidene demonstrating the importance of consistency
moscovi et al blue green slide study showed that a consitent minority opinion had a greater effect on changing the views of other people thn an inconsistent opinion
wood et al carried out a meta analysis of almost 100 similar studies and found that minorities who were seen as being consistent were most influential
this suggests presenting a consitetnt view is a minimum requirement for a minortiy trying to infleunce a majority
but i tcan be argued moscovi study study is ungerneralisable as he sued a study of 172 american female pt - this
as result were unable to generalsie results to toerh populations
e.g male pt therefore we cant conclude male pt would repsond to minority influenes in teh same way
furthermore research often suggests that females morelikely than males to conform to due to a greater need for social belinging and approval
therfore further research required to determine effect of minority infleunce on male pt to improve low population validity of this xp
STRENGTH - RESEARCH SUPPORT FOR DEEPER PROCESSING martin et al
Evidence showing a change in majoritys position does involve deeper processing of minorities ideas
researchers presented pt with message supporting particualr viewpoint and measured their agreement
a group then heard minortiy group agree with intial view whilst other group heard majority group agree with it
pt then exposed to conflicitingnviews then attitudes measred again
people less willing to chang opinons if lsitend to minority groups than if lsitened to majority group
suggests minority message had been more deeply processed and had a more enduring effect
supporting central argument about how minority infleunce works
COUNTERPOINT - RESEARHC INTO DEEP PROCESSING
Research studies such as martin et al make clear distinction between majority and minority . doing this in controlled way is a strength of minority infleunce research but in real world social infleunce situations are much omorecomplciated
e.g majorities usually got lots more power and status than minoritites . minoritites very comitted to their cause - they ahve to be as they often face very hostile opposition
these features are usually absent from minority infleune research - minority i simply smalles t group
therfore martin et al findings limited in what they can tell us about minority influence in rela world
outline moscovi green slide study
group of 6 people asked to view set of 36 blue coloured slides that varied in intensity then state whether they blue or green
in each group 2 confederates who consistently said slides were green
true participant then gave same wrong answer (green) on 8.42 % of trials -w hihc was agreeing with conederates
