Minority influence Flashcards
what is minority influence
a form of social influence in which a minority of people (sometimes just one person) persuades others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours
leads to internalisation, in which private attitudes are changed as well as public behaviours
what is consistency
when the minority keeps the same beliefs, both over time (diachronic consistency) and between all the individuals that form the minority (synchronic consistency)
it is effective as it draws attention to the minority view and makes other people start to rethink their own views
what is commitment
minorities engage in quite extreme activities to draw attention to their views
if there is some risk presented to the minority greater commitment is shown
majority group members will pay even more attention (augmentation principle)
what is flexibility
relentless consistency could be seen as counter-productive if it is seen by the majority as unbending and dogmatic
minority influence is more effective if the minority show flexibility by accepting the possibility of compromise
how do these three factors explain the process of change
they make people think about the minority’s view or cause
if you hear something new, you might think more deeply about it, especially if the source of this other view is consistent, committed and flexible
this deeper processing is important in the process of conversion to a different minority viewpoint
snowball effect
what is the research evidence for the importance of consistency (strength)
moscovici et al.’s blue/green slide study showed that a consistent minority opinion had a greater effect on changing the views of other people than an inconsistent opinion
wood et al. (1994) carried out a meta-analysis of 100 similar studies and found that minorities who were seen as being consistent were most influential
suggests presenting a consistent view is a minimum for trying to influence the majority
what is the research evidence showing that a change in the majority’s position does involve deeper processing of the minority’s ideas (strength)
martin et al. (2003) presented a message supporting a particular viewpoint and measured participants’ agreement
one group of participants heard a minority group agree with the initial view while another group heard a majority group agree with it
people were less willing to change their opinions if they had listened to a minority than a majority group
suggests that the minority message had been more deeply processed and had a more enduring effect
what is a counterpoint of the research support for deeper processing (limitation)
research studies such as martin et al.’s make clear distinctions between the majority and the minority
in real-world social influence situations it is much more complex, e.g., majorities usually have a lot more power and status than minorities, this is usually absent from minority influence research
findings are limited in what they can tell us about minority influence in real-world situations
how are the tasks artificial in minority influence research (limitation)
moscovici et al.’s task is far removed from how minorities attempt to change the behaviour of majorities in real life
in cases such as jury decision-making and political campaigning, the outcomes are vastly more important
means findings from minority influence studies are lacking in external validity and are limited
