minority influence Flashcards
what is minority influence
when a small number of people (a minority) rejects the established view of the majority group
what is minority influence most likely to lead to
internalisation
both public behaviour and private beliefs are changed during the process therefore social change
how would the world not move forward
if the minority went with the majority there would be no change in society
for change to occur a minority of people will different views must be able to exert their influence on a minority
real life examples (3)
suffragette movement
Nazi Germany
race equality movement
what are the 3 important aspects of minority influence
consistency
commitment
flexibility
consistency meaning
over time the minority views increases the amount of interest from other people as the minority group keep the same message over time
two types of consistency (2)
synchronic consistency
diachronic consistency
synchronic consistency
people in the minority all say the same thing e.g in a protest shouting the same thing
diachronic consistency
they have been saying the same thing for a long time
(but what is a long period of time)
who investigated consistency
moscovici et al
procedure
women were originally told they doing a study on perception
shown diff colours and asked about them
2 confederates out of 6 women who always said slide was green when they were blue
what were the findings of moscovici
32% of pp conformed to the minority position on at least 1 occasion
consistent minority confederates- they always say the slides are green (influence 8% of trials)
inconsistent minority- they said slides are green on 2/3 of occasions (influenced 1.25% of trials)
this gap is significant between those who were consistently influence compared to inconsistently
conclusions for moscovici
consistency is vital for minority influence to occur
if minority consistently give the same answer they are more likely to sway the majority
what were the 2 conditions (variation study)
1- consistent minority and written responses (more private) (confederates were saying what they thought out loud)
2- inconsistent minority and verbal answers
shows an increase in the power of minority as more people conformed privately
don’t want to show they’re as easily influenced so private no one will know
good example of nsi
limtations (2)
ethics- deception as they were told they were doing a study on perception so they never technically consented
sample- can only generalise finding to females in 60s (valid in modern day females?)
strengths (2)
did different conditions and variations meaning its more justifiable as pyscologist compared it to strengthen and confirm findings
it offers a clear explanation- shows consistency is a clear factor and thats undeniable
commitment
sometimes minorities engage in quite extreme activities to draw attention to their cause
it is important that these extreme activities are at some risk to the minority because thus demonstrates commitment to the cause e.g oil activist getting arrested for protesting
the augmentation principle
extreme activities increasing the amount of interest further from the majority group members
who broke down commitment
hogg and vaughan
what are the factors h and v suggested (4)
principle
sacrifice
share characteristics with the majority
social trends
principle
the minority cant be seen to be acting out of self interest
sacrifice
the minority have to be able to show that they are willing to sacrifice and compromise to support their viewpoint
share characteristucs with the majority
they need to adhere an in-group schema to exert a strong effect
social trends
the minority will have more effect if you can tap into a social trend
if you have an arguement around freedom and acceptance your most likely to persuade the majoirty but somehwere like russia maybe not
flexbility
researchers have questioned whether being consistent alone is enough to cause a minority influence
who studied this
nemeth (influenced by moscovicis study)
nemeths study
investigated whether consistency alone is the key factor in minority influence
in his variation of ms study he allows the pp to answer with a combo of colours (e.g blue green)
three conditions - what confederates did (3)
random devience- green on half the trials blue green on other half
flexible deviance- green for brighter slides and green-blue for darker
consistent devience- green on every trial
findings
21% conformed at least once in the flexibility condition
first condition lacks consistency so very little influence
third condition- total lack of flexibility had no effetc
conclusion
consistency is not the only factor as it is stronger when flexibility as it allows less suspicion
if the minority is seen as being inflexible ad uncompromising then the majority are unlikely to change
real life application
nemeth
mock jury when Confederate change compensation amount the jury discussed the majority did too as confederate being flexible about approach
how reliable is the justice system ?
what did moscovici (4) and later nemeth (1) say the minority must do to exert their influence
create doubt by challanging the collective majority existinf view
become visible through campaigning and expressing and alternative viewpoint
establish an alternative viewpoint to the majority
appear confident that theyre right
nemeth added some degree of compromisation and flexibility makes the standpoint of the minority more easier to change
recent examples (2) with linking explanations
just stop oil- according to n and m they draw attention and committed to cause and consistent but they specifically may loose the influence of majority due to the way the conducted themselves (m1 glued themselves down) inflexibility to be able to look at wider picture as they’re being dogmatic in approach
pro gaza protests- held peacefully, consistent message and have managed to get people to augment their view over time meaning they have ticked boxes on how to be successful. majority have been listening
12 angry men findings- evaluation
proves moscovici to be correct
clark 1998
after about 4/12 minority impact the minority influence at its peak and did not increase
any more than 4 is too dogmatic- unnatural and feels like your trying to tell people what to do
real life application
mundane realism
snowballing
minority influence accelerated when minority grew in size
explaining minority influence- moscovicis conversions theory
if we encounter a viewpoint different to our own conflict is created
generally, we don’t like conflict so we are motivated to take steps to reduce it
when people hold a diff view to ours we take time to examine why they say this and find out why their view differs from the majority
but if a majority disagree with our viewpoint we simply fall into line and alter out own viewpoint to fit in with it
most likely to be swayed by view point as the minority catch our attentuin so we concentrate on their message and more likely to be swayed on a private level
limitations of moscovici (2)
unethical to deceive pp as they cant give fully informed consent
lacks mundane realism (why would people ever be asked to pick between blue and green slides and would they even care) so conclusions may lack ecological validity
strengths of moscovici (2)
researcher validity- different variations to prove findings
real life application- mock jury proved findings
role social influence process in social change (with example of the suffragettes)
they were consistent with their view and always used educational and political arguments to draw attention and for many years protesting and lobbying until they convinced society women are worthy of voting. they made significant sacrifices risking things such as imprisonment demonstrating their commitment. over time their minority influence persuaded the majority to consider the issue leading to social change and female adults being able to vote. snowball effect- once the minority started to gain attention the majority and they listened and considered their argument then the minority become the majority