minority influence

Question 1

what is minority influence

Answer 1

a form of social influence where the minority influence the majority

Question 2

study for mi

Answer 2

moscovici et al 1969

Question 3

moscovici aim

Answer 3

investigate minority influence

Question 4

moscovici prodecure

Answer 4

-lab experiment using female students
- group of 6 people
-2 conf = minority
-4 real p = majority
- viewed 36 blue slides, asked to state the colour
- in first experiment , conf consistently said that the slides were green in a ll 36 trials
- in second experiment , conf were inconsistent they said the slides were green for only 24/36 of the slides

Question 5

moscovici findings

Answer 5

-32% of ppts gave the same answer as the majority in at least 1 of the trials
- on average, ppts gave the same answers as the minority 8.42% of the time
- inconsistent minority led majority to give same answer 1.25% of the time
-in control group with no conf, wrong answer given 0.25% of the time

Question 6

moscovici conclusions

Answer 6

consistency is an important process in minority influence

Question 7

limitation of mi

Answer 7

P- involves artificial tasks

E- moscovici tasks was saying colour of slide, far removed from how minorities try to change opinions in real life

E - in jury decision making and political campaigning, outcomes are vastly more important , maybe a matter of life and death

L - meaning that the findings lack external validity and are limited in what they tell us about how mi works irl

Question 8

what is consistency

Answer 8

• its what increases amount of interest from others
• makes others think about their own views e.g maybe they’ve got a point if they keep repeating it

Question 9

2 types of consistency and meaning

Answer 9

synchronic consistency. - agreement between people in the minority e.g they’re all saying the same thing

diachronic consistency - consistency over time e.g they’ve been saying the same thing for a while

Question 10

commitment

Answer 10

minorities engage in extreme activités to draw attention to their views

should be a risk to minors as it demonstrates their commitment to the cause

then the majority pay more attention

Question 11

flexibility

Answer 11

consistency can be off putting towards the majority, repeating the same points over and over again could be negative

nemeth 1986 argues that minorities should be prepared to be flexible and adapt their points of view, acceptt reasonable counter arguments, so the majority convert to the views of minority

Question 12

strength of minority influence

consistency

Answer 12

P - research evidence shows importance of consistency

E - Moscovici et al 1969 found a consistent minority pinion had a greater effect on other people than an inconsistent opinion

E - wood et al 1994 conducted meta analysis of almost 100 similar studies and found that kinotires seen as being consistent were almost influential

L- confirms that consistency is major factor in minority influence