minority influence Flashcards
define minority influence
a situation where one person or a small group of people influence the behaviour and beliefs or the majority
leads to internalisation
what are the different factors that enhance the effectiveness of a minority
consistency
commitment
flexibility
how does consistency enhance effectiveness of a minority
when minority members share the same belief and retain it over time
draws the attention of the majority group to the minority position
consistency makes the majority rethink their own views
what are the two types of consistency
synchronic - all saying same thing
diachronic - saying same thing for a long time
outline moscovici et al 1969 experiment into consistency
A - to see if a consistent minority could influence a majority to give an incorrect answer in a colour perception task
P - 172 female ppts who were told that they were taking part in a colour perception task
ppts placed in groups of 6 and shown 36 slides, all varying shades of blue
ppts had to state out loud the colour of each slide
2/6 ppt confederate, in consistent situation 2 confederate said all 36 slides were green ; in inconsistent said 24/36 were green
F - consistent [ agreed 8.2%]
inconsistent [agreed 1.25%]
C - suggest that minorities can influence majorities
how can flexibility enhance minority influence
the way in which minority influence is more like to occur when the minority is willing to compromise
they cannot be viewed as unreasonable
outline nemeth 1986 research into flexibility
A - investigate the idea of flexibility as a key characteristic of successful minorities who exert pressure
P - ppts in groups of 4 to agree on the amount of compensation they would give to a victim of a ski-life accident during mock jury
inflexible - confederate argued low rate and refused to change position, no effect on majority
F - flexible - confederate willing to be flexible and compromise to a slightly higher amount, influenced the majority to change their views
C- highlights the importance of flexibility and questions the idea of consistency, suggesting that striking a balance between the two is the most successful strategy for a minority to adopt
how does commitment enhance minority influence
sometimes minorities engage in risky and extreme activities to draw attention to their cause and to show commitment
augmentation principle,
majority pays more attention to the actions being taken, more likely to integrate it into their personal viewpoints due to the personal sacrifice made by minority
e.g. suffragette movement, women risked being imprisoned and being force-fed as a result of hunger strikes
what is the snowball effect
over time, increasing numbers of people switch from the majority position to the minority position
they become converted
the more this happens, the faster the rate of conversion
gradually the minority view has become the majority view and the change has occurred
weakness of minority influence
P - research into consistency lack real-world usefulness
E - e.g. moscovici’s colour task does not do justice to minorities attempting to change the behaviour of the majority in real life, with the outcomes being vastly more important and at times a matter of life and death
E - this means that these studies lack external validity as their findings cannot be confidently applied to real life situations
L - they might be limited in explaining minority influence
strength of minority influence
P - supporting evidence
E - wood et al 1994 conducted a meta-analysis of 100 similar studies and found that minorities who were seen as being consistent were most influential
E - strength as meta-analysis increases sample size, providing a more precise estimate of effect consistency
L - consistency can be viewed as important factor in minority influence
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P
E - moscovici found that when participants were able to write down their answers in private, there were more likely to agree with minority
E - it can be assumed that those who do go public hold their new views strongly - internalisation
L - findings suggest that although minority influence is relatively unusual it is a valid form of social influence because when it happens it influences people very powerfully and permanently
