Minority Influence

Question 1

Define Minority Influence:

Answer 1

Refers to the process whereby a small group of people or an individual change the views/opinions of other people to match the minority.

Question 2

What are the 3 factors affecting minority influence:

Answer 2

• Commitment
• Flexibility
• Consistency

Question 3

Explain Commitment:

Answer 3

• Minority need to appear willing to give up their time, work hard and be willing to take risks for their cause.
• Minority can engage in activities that place them at some risk (e.g. risk of punishment) in order to draw more attention to their cause + ensure majority takes them more seriously (augmentation principle)
• Minority can include spending personal time or effort to achieve a cause

Question 4

Explain Flexibility:

Answer 4

• Minority exclusively being consistent makes them look rigid and unwilling to compromise - off-putting to majority
• minority need to be prepared to adapt their POV + accept reasonable and valid counter-arguments from majority.

Question 5

Explain Consistency:

Answer 5

• On first exposure to a minority position - majority may assume the minority is wrong.
• however - if minority continue to maintain position - majority may reassess situation and change their position
• Consistency can be shown in two ways: 1) minority having a consistent position over time + 2) members of minority group having same position among themselves.

Question 6

Who studied the effect of consistency on minority influence:

Answer 6

Moscovici et al (1969)

Question 7

What was Moscovici’s procedure in his study on the effect of consistency on minority influence:

Answer 7

• Groups of 6 females shown 36 blue coloured slides projected onto a wall.
• Two women were confederates. Ppts then asked to judge the colour of each slide.
• 3 conditions: Consistent, Inconsistent and Control
  – Consistent: confederates answered incorrectly (green) on all trials
  – Inconsistent: confederates answered incorrectly on some trials
  – Control: no confederates were present

Question 8

Describe the consistent condition in Moscovici’s study:

Answer 8

confederates answered incorrectly (green) on all trials

Question 9

Describe the inconsistent condition in Moscovici’s study:

Answer 9

confederates answered incorrectly on some trials and correctly on others

Question 10

Describe the control condition in Moscovici’s study:

Answer 10

no confederates were present

Question 11

What were Moscovici’s findings in his study on the effect of consistency on minority influence:

Answer 11

• When minority were CONSISTENTLY incorrect = ppts had 8.4% conformity
• When minority were INCONSISTENTLY incorrect = ppts had 1.25% conformity

Question 12

What was Moscovici’s conclusion on the effect of consistency on minority influence:

Answer 12

• Shows that minority being consistent in views has a greater influence on majority.

Question 13

Strength of consistency as factor affecting minority influence is that there is supporting evidence.

Answer 13

E.g, Wood et al did meta-analysis of 100 studies similar to Moscovici’s of minority influence + found minoirties who were consistent were most influential. SB: supports idea that consistency is major factor in influencing majority. As study is meta-analysis - broader consensus in the field of research regarding consistency + is not a one-off finding - greater confidence in the conclusions. Increase in validity of consistency as a factor.

Question 14

Strength of flexibility as factor affecting minority influence is that there is supporting evidence.

Answer 14

Nemeth - created groups (3 ppts + 1 confederate) where confederate had to decide how much compensation to pay a victim of ski lift accident. When consistent confederate argued for low amount and refused to change his position - no effect on majority. When he compromised a little and suggested slightly higher amount, majority changed their opinion to lower amount. SB: shows that when minority is flexible, have greater influence on majority. Increases validity of flexibility as factor.

Question 15

Weakness of studies into effect of consistency in minority influence is that it lacks ecological validity.

Answer 15

E.g. having ppts judge colours of slides in Moscovici’s study is not smt ppts do on everyday basis - reduces ecological validity - results cannot be applied to everyday life. These tasks r incredibily different from how minorities try to influence majority view in the real world e.g. jury situation where outcomes can have serious consequences on ppl’s lives like jail time, unlike Moscovici’s study whic was inconsequential. Decreases validity of the study - reducing validity of our understanding of minority influence.

Question 16

Weakness of studies into effect of consistency in minority influence is that it lacks population validity.

Answer 16

Moscovici used only female students as ppts - Evidence from Neto that indicates that women are more concerned about social relationships and being accepted than men. May mean they r more conformist in response to minority influence than males- results from females cannot be generalised to males. Thus findings may not be applicable to wider population due to lack of male ppts in supporting research. As validity of study decreases, validity of our understanding also decreases.