Minority Influence Flashcards
define minority influence
A type of social influence in which the minority of people pursuade the majority to change their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours.
It is likely to lead to internalisation.
What are the factors that affect minority influence
- Consistency
- commitment
- flexibility
How is consistency important in minority influence
Minority influence is more effective if the minority keeps the same beliefs, both over time and between all the individuals that form the minority.
It is effective because it draws attention to the minority view
How is commitment important in minority influence
Minority influence is more powerful if the minority demonstrates dedication to their position, for example by making personal sacrifices.
This is effective because it shows the minority is not acting out of self interest.
how is flexibility important to minority influence
Relentless consistency could be counter productive if it is seen by the majority as unbending and unreasonable. Therefore minority influence is more effective if the minority shows flexibility by accepting the possibility of compromise.
why is commitment especially important
Majority group members sometimes pay more attention when commitment is demonstrated. This is called the Augmentation principle
what is meant by augmentation principle
If a person performs an action when there are known constraints, their motives for acting must be stronger.
Explain the process of change
The 3 factors will make the majority think about the topic. It is this deeper processing which is important to the process of conversion to a different minority view.
define the snowball effect
gradually the minority view has become the majority view and change has occurred
define social cryptoamnesia
when social change occurs the new attitude becomes an integeral part of the society’s culture, and the source is often forgotten.
‘cryptoamnesia’ refers to the experience that an idea is new and original whereas in fact it is a memory from the past.
what is the research that supports consistency
- Moscovici et al. study shows that a consistent opinion had a greater effect on other people than an inconsistent opinion
- Wood et al 1994 - carried out a meta analysis of almost 100 similar studies and found that minorities who wer eseen as being consistent were most influential. This suggests that consistency is a major factor.
What was the aim of Moscovici 1969
To investigate the effets of a consistent minority on a majority
outline the method of Moscovici 1969
2 confederates were placed with 4 genuine participants. The groups were shown 36 slides which were clearly different shades of blue and asked to state the colour of each slide out loud.
In the first part of the experiment the 2 confederates answered green for each of the 36 slides. They were totally consistent in their responses. In the second part of the experiment, they answered green 24 times and blue 12 times. In this case they were inconsistent in their answers.
what were the results of Moscovici 1969
In condition 1 it was found that the consistent minority had an effect on the majority (8.42%) compared to an inconsistent minority (only 1.25% said green). A third (32%) of all participants judged the slide to be green at least once.
what is the conclusion of Moscovici 1969
Minorities can influence a majority, but not all the time and only when they behave in certain ways
(eg. Consistent behaviour style).
