Minority influence

Question 1

What is minority influence?

Answer 1

Where members of the majority change their beliefs due to exposure to a persuasive minority

Question 2

What are the 3 factors affecting minority influence?

Answer 2

Consistency, commitment and flexibility

Question 3

What are the 2 types of consistency?

Answer 3

Diachronic and synchronic

Question 4

What is diachronic consistency?

Answer 4

When the same message is relayed across time

Question 5

What is synchronic consistency?

Answer 5

When the same message is relayed across all minority members

Question 6

How does consistency lead to minority influence?

Answer 6

Leads majority to consider their view

Question 7

What is consistency?

Answer 7

Stability in the expressed position

Question 8

What is commitment?

Answer 8

The degree to which a minority is dedicated to their belief

Question 9

How can commitment be demonstrated?

Answer 9

Through extreme actions - e.g. hunger strikes

Question 10

How does commitment lead to minority influence?

Answer 10

Majority take minority ‘more seriously’

Question 11

What is flexibility?

Answer 11

When minority members are willing to compromise with the majority

Question 12

How does flexibility lead to minority influence?

Answer 12

Leads majority to believe that minority aren’t narrow-minded

Question 13

Who conducted research into minority influence?

Answer 13

Moscovici

Question 14

How many participants were in each of Moscovici’s experimental groups?

Answer 14

6 - 4 naïve participants + 2 minority confederates

Question 15

How many slides were Moscovici’s participants shown?

Answer 15

36

Question 16

What colour were the slides shown to Moscovici’s participants?

Answer 16

Blue

Question 17

How many experimental conditions did Moscovici have?

Answer 17

2

Question 18

What were Moscovici’s 2 experimental conditions?

Answer 18

Consistent minority and inconsistent minority

Question 19

In Moscovici’s consistent condition, what did the confederates do?

Answer 19

Said every slide was green

Question 20

In Moscovici’s inconsistent condition, what did the confederates do?

Answer 20

Said 2/3 of the slides were green

Question 21

What percentage of the naïve participants said the slides were green in the consistent condition?

Answer 21

Over 8%

Question 22

How many of the naïve participants said the slides were green in the inconsistent condition?

Answer 22

Very few - similar to control group

Question 23

What are the 4 AO3 points of minority influence?

Answer 23

1) Research support for flexibility
2) RWA to Suffragettes
3) Issues with Moscovici’s study
4) A ‘tipping point’ for commitment

Question 24

Who found research support for the role of flexibility in minority influence?

Answer 24

Nemeth and Brilmayer

Question 25

What did Nemeth and Brilmayer simulate?

Answer 25

Jury situations

Question 26

What did Nemeth and Brilmayer’s participants discuss?

Answer 26

How much compensation should be given to someone involved in a ski-lift accident

Question 27

What was the inflexible condition of Nemeth and Brilmayer’s study?

Answer 27

When a confederate put forward his own opposing view and refused to change this view

Question 28

What was the flexible condition of Nemeth and Brilmayer’s study?

Answer 28

When a confederate had an opposing view but was willing to compromise

Question 29

What was found in Nemeth and Brilmayer’s inflexible condition?

Answer 29

There was no effect on other jurors

Question 30

What was found in Nemeth and Brilmayer’s flexible condition?

Answer 30

Other jurors opinions changed

Question 31

What does minority influence have real world applications to?

Answer 31

The Suffragette movement

Question 32

How did the suffragettes demonstrate consistency?

Answer 32

The same message that women should be able to vote was constant across the protesters and across time

Question 33

How did the suffragettes demonstrate flexibility?

Answer 33

They initially compromised on women over 30 being allowed to vote rather than all women

Question 34

How did the suffragettes demonstrate commitment?

Answer 34

Emily Davison jumped in front of the King’s horse + died to show dedication to cause

Question 35

Why is Moscovici’s sample biased?

Answer 35

172 female American participants - unable to generalise to other genders and cultures, as gynocentric and ethnocentric

Question 36

What does Moscovici’s task lack?

Answer 36

Mundane realism

Question 37

Why does Moscovici’s task lack mundane realism?

Answer 37

Real life minority influence is typically related to serious issues such as religion, race and gender

Question 38

What is the ‘tipping point’ in the context of minority influence?

Answer 38

Where the snowball effect begins to take place

Question 39

In the research that provides support for a ‘tipping point’ of commitment, what did the researchers develop?

Answer 39

Computer models of social networks, where individuals were free to chat with each other

Question 40

In the research that provides support for a ‘tipping point’ of commitment, what views did the majority of individuals hold?

Answer 40

Traditional views

Question 41

In the research that provides support for a ‘tipping point’ of commitment, what happened if the listener had the same view as the speaker?

Answer 41

It reinforced their belief

Question 42

In the research that provides support for a ‘tipping point’ of commitment, what happened if the listener had a different view to the speaker?

Answer 42

They tended to move on to the next person

Question 43

In the research that provides support for a ‘tipping point’ of commitment, what happened if the listener had a different view to the speaker, but the same view as the speaker before them?

Answer 43

They adopted the belief

Question 44

In the research that provides support for a ‘tipping point’ of commitment, what percentage of a committed minority was needed for the snowball effect?

Answer 44

10%