minority influence Flashcards
what is minority influence
where people reject the established norm of the majority group members and gradually move towards the position of the minority- changing their attitudes and behaviour in line with minority group members
it involved conversion and results in the internalisation of the views of the minority
why does the conversion in minority influence occur
being exposed to a view point different to our own causes conflict (cognitive conflict)
this causes us to think more deeply about an issue and reappraise our perspective
what are the three factors which bring about conversion to the minority viewpoint
consistency
commitment
flexibility
what is consistency
stability in the expressed position over time and agreement between different members of the minority
what is commitment
degree of dedication to a particular cause suggests uncertainty, confidence and courage in the face of a hostile majority
we may all illustarate commitment when our dedication to a cause is at some cost or inconvenience to the individual
what is flexibility
a willingness to compromise when expressing a position.
flexibility is more effective at changing majority opinion than rigidity of arguments
who investigated minority influence
Moscovici et al 1969
what were the two conditions in Moscovicis experiment
consistent minority
inconsistent minority
what was the method used in the consistent /inconsistent minority in Moscovicis experiment
consistent- two confederates (minority influence) repeatedly called blue slides ‘green’ and there were 4 naïve participants
incostistent- the two confederates called the slide ‘green’ on two thirds of the trials and on one third they called the slides blue
what were the main study findings of Moscovicis study
consistent- influenced the ‘naive’ participants to say ‘green’ on over 8% of the trials
inconsistent- minority exerted very little influence and didn’t significantly differ from the control group
in the consistent condition what were the findings of the disc sorting tasks (individually tested)
private response- judged more of the chips to be green than those in the inconsistent condition
this effect was greater for those participants who hadn’t gone along with the minority during the experiment, suggesting that the initial influence was more at a private than a public level
what were the finidings of the disk sorting task (individually tested) in the inconsistent condition
private response- not as many participants judged the chips to be green as those in the consistent condition
what was the conclusion of moscovicis research
-supported role of consistency in minority influence as a consistent minority has more effect than an inconsistent one
- initial influence of a minority may be more at the private level than the pick-up level
