Minority influence

Question 1

what is minority influence

Answer 1

• This is a form of social influence in which a minority rejects the established norm of the majority of group members and persuades the majority to move to the position of the minority
• Minority influence is most likely to lead to internalisation – both public behaviour and private beliefs are changed in the process

Question 2

what are the 3 processes involved in minority influence

Answer 2

• consistency
• commitment
• flexibility

Question 3

consistency

Answer 3

• Over time, consistency in the minority’s views increases the amount of interest from other people
• Consistency makes others rethink their own views
• Synchronic consistency – people in the minority are all saying the same thing
• Diachronic consistency – they have been saying the same thing for a long time

Question 4

commitment

Answer 4

• 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 this demonstrates commitment to the cause
• This increases the amount of interest further, from other majority group members – the augmentation principle (process of majority taking on board minority)

Question 5

flexibility + the study for it

Answer 5

• Researchers have questioned whether being consistent alone is enough to cause minority influence.
• Nemeth (1986) argued that if the minority is seen as being inflexible and uncompromising then the majority are unlikely to change.
• They constructed a mock jury in which there were three genuine participants and one confederate.
• They had to decide on the amount of compensation to give a ski lift accident victim.
• When the confederate would not change from a low amount which seemed unreasonable, the majority stuck together at a much higher amount.
• However, when the confederate changed his compensation offer a bit, so did the majority. → if one group becomes rigid the other group become even more rigid → no middle ground
• This therefore shows that the minority should balance consistency and flexibility so they do not appear rigid

Question 6

how does this affect the process of change

Answer 6

• All three of the factors (consistency, commitment, flexibility) make people think about the topic
• Over time, people become ‘converted’ and switch from the minority to the majority – the more this happens, the faster the rate of conversion (the snowball effect)
• Gradually the minority view becomes the majority and social change has occurred

Question 7

what was Moscovici’s study on minority influence

Answer 7

• blue slide, green slide study (given eye test to ensure not colour blind)
• Pps shown 36 slides which were clearly different shades of blue and asked to state the colour of each slide out loud.
• In the first part of the experiment the two confederates answered green for each of the slides
• They were completely consistent in their responses.
• In the second part of the experiment they answered green 24 times and blue 12 times.
• In this case they were inconsistent in their answers.
• A control group was used for comparison with the experimental group therefore the factors expected to influence the experimental group are removed.
• The control group did not include confederates.

Question 8

what were Moscovici’s findings

Answer 8

• Only 0.25% of the control group’s responses were green, the rest were blue.
• For the experimental group, 1.25% of the participants’ answers were green when the confederates gave inconsistent answers (i.e., 24 green, 12 blue).
• This rose to 8.42% responding with green when the confederates were consistent in their responses (i.e., 36 green)
• Influence is much more effective when the minority are consistent in their responses.
• When the minority gave inconsistent answers, they were largely ignored by the majority.

Question 9

what are the +ve AO3 points for Moscovici’s study

Answer 9

• Research support for consistency
• research support for depth of thought

Question 10

expand on the +ve AO3 point, research support for consistency

Answer 10

• demonstrated that when the minority are consistent in their responses they can influence the majority.
• When the minority gave inconsistent answers in Moscovici’s study, they were generally ignored by the majority.
• Later research has largely confirmed these findings.

Question 11

expand on the +ve AO3 point, research support for depth of thought

Answer 11

• Martin et al (2003)
• People were less willing to change their opinions to the new conflicting view if they had listened to a minority group than if they had listened to a majority group
• This suggests that the minority message had been more deeply processed and had a more enduring effect

Question 12

what are the -ve AO3 points for Moscovici’s study

Answer 12

• Moscovici could be demonstrating demand characteristics or conformity - Artificial tasks (lacks external validity)
• The effect of the minority may not be apparent

Question 13

expand on the -ve AO3 point, - Moscovici could be demonstrating demand characteristics or conformity - Artificial tasks

Answer 13

• real-life situations are more complicated.
• This means that findings lack external validity and therefore have limited real-world applications
• Most studies do not capture the commitment that minorities show towards their causes, including the social support that members give each other when majority hostility threatens to overwhelm them

Question 14

expand on the -ve AO3 point, The effect of the minority may not be apparent

Answer 14

• people struggle to identify as the minority, as they want to fit in
• reluctant to admit their change, Moscovici found higher agreement with minority when writing down answer - shows internalisation took place