minority influence

Question 1

what is minority influence

Answer 1

when a small number of people (a minority) rejects the established view of the majority group

Question 2

what is minority influence most likely to lead to

Answer 2

internalisation
both public behaviour and private beliefs are changed during the process therefore social change

Question 3

how would the world not move forward

Answer 3

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

Question 4

real life examples (3)

Answer 4

suffragette movement
Nazi Germany
race equality movement

Question 5

what are the 3 important aspects of minority influence

Answer 5

consistency
commitment
flexibility

Question 6

consistency meaning

Answer 6

over time the minority views increases the amount of interest from other people as the minority group keep the same message over time

Question 7

two types of consistency (2)

Answer 7

synchronic consistency
diachronic consistency

Question 8

synchronic consistency

Answer 8

people in the minority all say the same thing e.g in a protest shouting the same thing

Question 9

diachronic consistency

Answer 9

they have been saying the same thing for a long time
(but what is a long period of time)

Question 10

who investigated consistency

Answer 10

moscovici et al

Question 11

procedure

Answer 11

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

Question 12

what were the findings of moscovici

Answer 12

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

Question 13

conclusions for moscovici

Answer 13

consistency is vital for minority influence to occur
if minority consistently give the same answer they are more likely to sway the majority

Question 14

what were the 2 conditions (variation study)

Answer 14

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

Question 15

limtations (2)

Answer 15

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?)

Question 16

strengths (2)

Answer 16

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

Question 17

commitment

Answer 17

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

Question 18

the augmentation principle

Answer 18

extreme activities increasing the amount of interest further from the majority group members

Question 19

who broke down commitment

Answer 19

hogg and vaughan

Question 20

what are the factors h and v suggested (4)

Answer 20

principle
sacrifice
share characteristics with the majority
social trends

Question 21

principle

Answer 21

the minority cant be seen to be acting out of self interest

Question 22

sacrifice

Answer 22

the minority have to be able to show that they are willing to sacrifice and compromise to support their viewpoint

Question 23

share characteristucs with the majority

Answer 23

they need to adhere an in-group schema to exert a strong effect

Question 24

social trends

Answer 24

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

Question 25

flexbility

Answer 25

researchers have questioned whether being consistent alone is enough to cause a minority influence

Question 26

who studied this

Answer 26

nemeth (influenced by moscovicis study)

Question 27

nemeths study

Answer 27

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)

Question 28

three conditions - what confederates did (3)

Answer 28

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

Question 29

findings

Answer 29

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

Question 30

conclusion

Answer 30

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

Question 31

real life application

Answer 31

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 ?

Question 32

what did moscovici (4) and later nemeth (1) say the minority must do to exert their influence

Answer 32

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

Question 33

recent examples (2) with linking explanations

Answer 33

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

Question 34

12 angry men findings- evaluation
proves moscovici to be correct

Answer 34

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

Question 35

snowballing

Answer 35

minority influence accelerated when minority grew in size

Question 36

explaining minority influence- moscovicis conversions theory

Answer 36

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

Question 37

limitations of moscovici (2)

Answer 37

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

Question 38

strengths of moscovici (2)

Answer 38

researcher validity- different variations to prove findings
real life application- mock jury proved findings

Question 39

role social influence process in social change (with example of the suffragettes)

Answer 39

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