Minority Influence

Question 1

What is Minority Influence and what are the 3 key variables?

Answer 1

• Minority influence is a type of social influence which results in a change of views amongst the majority of members within a group.
• It involves an individual or minority of a population persuading other members to accept their argument, even if this contradicts the more popular view held by the majority.

There are 3 key variables which affect MI:

1. Consistency
2. Commitment
3. Flexibility

(also draw attention. g the suffragettes)

Question 2

A03 - Skiing

Answer 2

-There is research support for the importance of flexibility.
- Nemeth and Brilmayer studied the flexibility in a simulated jury situation where group members discussed the amount of compensation to be paid to someone involved in a ski-lift accident.

-When a confederate put forward an alternative point of view and refused to change his position, this had no effect on other group members.

-A confederate who compromised and therefore showed some degree of shift towards the majority did exert an influence on the rest of the group.

Question 3

What is social change?

Answer 3

The role of social influence in social change, and how this understanding can be harnessed to bring about desirable social change.

Question 4

Other factors of social change

Answer 4

MI- - If an individual is exposed to a persuasive argument under certain conditions, they may change their views to match those of the minority.
Snowball Effect - Minority influence initially has a relatively small effect but this then spreads more widely as more and more people consider the Issues being promoted, until it reaches a ‘tipping point’, at which point it leads to wide-scale social change.