Minority influence Flashcards
What is minority influence?
Where members of the majority change their beliefs due to exposure to a persuasive minority
What are the 3 factors affecting minority influence?
Consistency, commitment and flexibility
What are the 2 types of consistency?
Diachronic and synchronic
What is diachronic consistency?
When the same message is relayed across time
What is synchronic consistency?
When the same message is relayed across all minority members
How does consistency lead to minority influence?
Leads majority to consider their view
What is consistency?
Stability in the expressed position
What is commitment?
The degree to which a minority is dedicated to their belief
How can commitment be demonstrated?
Through extreme actions - e.g. hunger strikes
How does commitment lead to minority influence?
Majority take minority ‘more seriously’
What is flexibility?
When minority members are willing to compromise with the majority
How does flexibility lead to minority influence?
Leads majority to believe that minority aren’t narrow-minded
Who conducted research into minority influence?
Moscovici
How many participants were in each of Moscovici’s experimental groups?
6 - 4 naïve participants + 2 minority confederates
How many slides were Moscovici’s participants shown?
36
What colour were the slides shown to Moscovici’s participants?
Blue
How many experimental conditions did Moscovici have?
2
What were Moscovici’s 2 experimental conditions?
Consistent minority and inconsistent minority
In Moscovici’s consistent condition, what did the confederates do?
Said every slide was green
In Moscovici’s inconsistent condition, what did the confederates do?
Said 2/3 of the slides were green
What percentage of the naïve participants said the slides were green in the consistent condition?
Over 8%
How many of the naïve participants said the slides were green in the inconsistent condition?
Very few - similar to control group
What are the 4 AO3 points of minority influence?
1) Research support for flexibility
2) RWA to Suffragettes
3) Issues with Moscovici’s study
4) A ‘tipping point’ for commitment
Who found research support for the role of flexibility in minority influence?
Nemeth and Brilmayer
What did Nemeth and Brilmayer simulate?
Jury situations
What did Nemeth and Brilmayer’s participants discuss?
How much compensation should be given to someone involved in a ski-lift accident
What was the inflexible condition of Nemeth and Brilmayer’s study?
When a confederate put forward his own opposing view and refused to change this view
What was the flexible condition of Nemeth and Brilmayer’s study?
When a confederate had an opposing view but was willing to compromise
What was found in Nemeth and Brilmayer’s inflexible condition?
There was no effect on other jurors
What was found in Nemeth and Brilmayer’s flexible condition?
Other jurors opinions changed
What does minority influence have real world applications to?
The Suffragette movement
How did the suffragettes demonstrate consistency?
The same message that women should be able to vote was constant across the protesters and across time
How did the suffragettes demonstrate flexibility?
They initially compromised on women over 30 being allowed to vote rather than all women
How did the suffragettes demonstrate commitment?
Emily Davison jumped in front of the King’s horse + died to show dedication to cause
Why is Moscovici’s sample biased?
172 female American participants - unable to generalise to other genders and cultures, as gynocentric and ethnocentric
What does Moscovici’s task lack?
Mundane realism
Why does Moscovici’s task lack mundane realism?
Real life minority influence is typically related to serious issues such as religion, race and gender
What is the ‘tipping point’ in the context of minority influence?
Where the snowball effect begins to take place
In the research that provides support for a ‘tipping point’ of commitment, what did the researchers develop?
Computer models of social networks, where individuals were free to chat with each other
In the research that provides support for a ‘tipping point’ of commitment, what views did the majority of individuals hold?
Traditional views
In the research that provides support for a ‘tipping point’ of commitment, what happened if the listener had the same view as the speaker?
It reinforced their belief
In the research that provides support for a ‘tipping point’ of commitment, what happened if the listener had a different view to the speaker?
They tended to move on to the next person
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?
They adopted the belief
In the research that provides support for a ‘tipping point’ of commitment, what percentage of a committed minority was needed for the snowball effect?
10%
