minority influence

Question 1

consistency

Answer 1

• minority influence is more likely when the groups members share the same beliefs and retain it over time
• this draws the attention of the majority to the minority

Question 2

moscovici (1969) - aim

Answer 2

to see if a consistent minority could influence a majority to give an incorrect answer in a colour perception task

Question 3

moscovici (1969) - method

Answer 3

• 172 women were told they were doing a colour perception task
• in groups of 6 (2 were confederates) they were shown 36 slides of varying shades of blue, they had to say out loud the colour of each slide
• in the consistent condition, both said all 36 were green
• in the inconsistent condition both said 24 were green and 12 were blue

Question 4

moscovici (1969) - results

Answer 4

• in the consistent condition, the real participants agreed on 8.2% of trials
• in the inconsistent condition, the real participants agreed on 1.25% of trials

Question 5

moscovici (1969) - conclusion

Answer 5

a consistent minority is more effective than an inconsistent minority. therefore consistency is important in exerting minority influence

Question 6

commitment

Answer 6

• the minority may engage in risky or dangerous behaviour to draw attention to their cause
• putting them at risk shows their commitment
• this is the augmentation principle, the majority pays more attention to them and are more likely to integrate the minority’s beliefs into their own viewpoints

Question 7

flexibility

Answer 7

• minority influence is more likely when the minority is willing to compromise
• they can’t be seen as dogmatic and unreasonable

Question 8

nemeth (1986) - aim

Answer 8

believed consistency could be seen as a neg trait so studied flexibility as a key factor for successful minorities

Question 9

nemeth (1986) - method

Answer 9

• participants in groups of 4 (1 confederate) had to agree on the amount of compensation to give to the victim of an accident
• in the inflexible group the minority argued for a lower compensation and refused to change
• in the flexible group the minority argued for a lower compensation but compromised with one slightly higher

Question 10

nemeth (1986) - results

Answer 10

• in the inflexible condition the minority had little to no effect on the majority
• in the flexible condition the majority were also more likely to compromise

Question 11

nemeth (1986) - conclusion

Answer 11

highlights the importance of flexibility and questions the idea of consistency

Question 12

give a strength of minority influence
1/1

Answer 12

moscovivi’s research provides support for isi. in a variation participants wrote their answers rather than saying them out loud, their response was private. in these circumstances, agreement with the minority was higher, suggesting they internalised the viewpoint of the minority as correct. moscovici argued the majority found it easier to confess their agreement with the minority privately, as being associated with them may seem ‘radical’

Question 13

give a limitation of minority influence
1/3

Answer 13

moscovivi used a biased sample of 172 women from america, reducing the studies population validity. we are therefore unable to generalise the results and conclusion to other populations, such as men, as we cannot conclude that they would respond to minority influence in a similar way. furthermore, research often suggests that women are more likely to conform, so more research is required to assess the effect of minority influence on male participants

Question 14

give a limitation of minority influence
2/3

Answer 14

moscovici has been criticised for breaking ethical guidelines. during his study he deceived his participants, telling them they were taking part in a colour perception task rather than a study on minority influence. this also means that moscovici didn’t gain fully informed consent

COUNTER = although this is unethical, his study required deception to achieve valid results. if participants were aware of the true aim, they may have displayed demand characteristics and acted unnaturally. a cost benefit analysis would determine that the insight gained from the research was worth the short term cost to the participants, which was easily dealt with through debriefing them after the study

Question 15

give a limitation of minority influence
3/3

Answer 15

there are methodological issues with research into minority influence. many of the research circumstances, such as judging the colour of a slide, are artificial tasks and therefore lack mundane realism, they don’t occur in everyday life. research is often said to be too far removed from real life situations of minority influence, such as political campaigning. the implications of the real life situations are also much larger than those in a lab study, meaning that moscovici’s study lacks external validity