Minority influence

Question 1

who studied minority influence?

Answer 1

Moscovici

Question 2

describe the participants in Moscovici’s study

Answer 2

randomly selected participants and confederates

Question 3

what was the aim of Moscovici’s study

Answer 3

to observe how minorities can influence a majority

Question 4

how did Moscovici test minority influence?

Answer 4

lab experiment

Question 5

what were the groups like in Moscovici’s study?

Answer 5

participants were in a group where there were 2 confederates (the minority) and four participants (the majority)

Question 6

what did the participants have to do in Moscovici’s study?

Answer 6

• everyone was shown 36 blue slides, each with a different shade of blue
• they were each asked to say whether the slide was blue or green

Question 7

what did the confederates have to say and why?

Answer 7

confederates deliberately said they were green on two-thirds of the trials, thus producing a consistent minority view

Question 8

what was observed in Moscovici’s experiment?

Answer 8

the number of times that the real participants reported that the slide was green was observed

Question 9

was a control group used in Moscovici’s study?

Answer 9

a control group was also used consisting of participants only – no confederates

Question 10

describe and explain the findings of Moscovici’s study

Answer 10

• when the confederates were consistent - 8% of ppts said green
• when the confederates were inconsistent - 1% of ppts said green
• this shows consistency is crucial for minority influence

Question 11

why is minority influence more effective when the minority is consistent?

Answer 11

it makes the opposition think that the views of the minority are real and serious enough to pay attention to (i.e. the augmentation principle), if they are so determined to stay consistent

Question 12

define diachronic consistency

Answer 12

when the group remains consistent over time

Question 13

define synchronic consistency

Answer 13

when the group is consistent between all the members of the group – everyone in the group has the same views

Question 14

why is minority influence more effective when the minority is commited?

Answer 14

when the minority have so much passion and confidence in their point of view, it suggests to the majority that their view must somehow be valid, and it encourages them to explore why
- offering more opportunity to be influenced

Question 15

why is minority influence more effective when the minority is flexible?

Answer 15

• too consistent suggests that the minority is inflexible, uncompromising and irrational
• however, if they appear flexible, compromising and rational, they are less likely to be seen as extremists and attention seekers
• they are more likely to be seen as reasonable, considerate and cooperative

Question 16

what is a strength of minority influence? (PEE)
- research support for willingness to be flexible

Answer 16

eg. Nemeth and Brilmayer found that confederates holding a minority view who compromised were more influential than confederates who put forward a position but refused to change their position.
However, being too flexible weakens minority position
TMB it shows flexibility and consistence are both important

Question 17

what is a strength of minority influence? (PEE)
- has value even if majority view doesnt change

Answer 17

eg. Van Dyne + Saavedra studied the role of dissent in work groups, and found that groups made better decisions when a dissenting minority was present.
TMB even if dissenters are wrong they make people think more

Question 18

what is a limitation of minority influence? (PEE)
-idea of deeper processing has been questioned

Answer 18

eg. research suggests that we actually process the majority view more than the minority view.
TMB If they express a different view from the one we hold, we have to consider it carefully to understand which unlikely will happen so is less influential

Question 19

what is a limitation of research into minority influence? (PEE)
- lacks population validity

Answer 19

eg. Moscovici used biased sample, 172 american female ppts
TMB - cant be generalised