Minority influence

Question 1

minority influence

Answer 1

• when very persuasive small groups, or individuals
• change the way the majority behaves + thinks
• leads to conversion
  = when individuals change their private beliefs + views due to minority influence
• committed, consistent, flexible
• snowball effect
• social crypto-amnesia

Question 2

ad of minority influence

Answer 2

• psych told 172 female parts that they were taking part in a colour perception task
• naiive parts were placed in groups of 6
• shown 36 slides = varying shades of blue
• 2/6 = confederates
• parts had to state out loud the colour of each slide
• consistent condition = confederates said green in all 36 trials
  = parts swayed 8.2% of the time
• inconsistent condition = confederates said green 24/36 trials
  = parts swayed 1.25% of the time
  = shows that CONSISTENT minority is more effective than inconsistent minority

Question 3

disads of minority influence

Answer 3

• gender bias
• cultural bias
• ecological validity
• informed consent

Question 4

gender bias - disads of minority influence

Answer 4

• samples of studies into minority influence are gender biased
• one sample only used women
  = cannot conclude that male parts would respond to minority influence in the same way
• research often suggests that women are more likely to conform than men
  = further research is needed to determine effect on male parts

Question 5

cultural bias - disads of minority influence

Answer 5

• samples of studies are culturally biased = all American students
  = findings can’t be generalised to other populations
  = can’t conclude parts from other cultures would respond to minority influence in a similar way

Question 6

ecological validity - disads of minority influence

Answer 6

• most of the studies are based on experiments conducted in labs
• parts in lab experiments are usually a collection of students who don’t know each other + prob never meet again
• ecologically valid?

Question 7

informed consent - disads of minority influence

Answer 7

• studies into minority influence have been criticised for deceiving parts
• parts were told they were taking part in a colour perception test
  = no informed consent
• HOWEVER, deception is required to prevent demand characteristics + get valid study

Question 8

minority influence

Answer 8

• very persuasive small groups, or even individuals = change the way majority behaves + thinks
• conversion occurs = individuals change their private beliefs + views cus of minority influene
• most likely effective when committed, consistent + flexible