Minority Influence Flashcards
What is minority influence?
When a minority of people persuade others to adopt their beliefs attitudes or behaviours, leading to internalisation
What qualities must minorities have to be influential
Consistency
Commitment
Flexibility
How can consistency bring about social change
the minority will be more successful they all have the same message overtime
By keeping the msg consistent the minority is harder to ignore
How does Commitment bring about social change
Minorities sometimes engage in extreme activities to draw attention to themselves.
These activities have some risk/self-sacrifice to the minority because this shows their commitment to the cause and the majority will pay more attention
this is called the augmentation principle
How does flexibility bring about social change
Minority must not be too rigid in their argument bc this can be seen as negative and they seem too narrow-minded.
Minorities must be prepared to adapt their point of view and accept reasonable and valid counterarguments
What are strengths of consistency commitment and flexibility
- Consistency is supported by Moscovici
- Flexibility is supported by Nemeth
- Real life examples
What are limitations of consistent commitment and flexibility
- Studies have low ecological validity
- May not be very powerful
Evaluate the support of from Moscovici as a strength of consistency
P: Supported by evidence.
E: Moscovici et al (1969) demonstrated minority influence in a study where a group of six people was asked to view a set of 36 blue-coloured slides that varied in intensity and then state whether the slides were blue or green. In each group there were two confederates who consistently said the slides were green. The study showed that a consistent minority opinion had a greater effect on changing the views of the participants than an inconsistent condition.
Wendy Wood et al (1994) carried out a meta-analysis of almost 100 similar studies and found that minorities who were seen as being consistent were the most influential.
E: Demonstrates that consistency is a factor which is important for when a minority is trying to influence a majority.
Evaluate research support from Nemeth as a strength of flexibility
P: The theory that flexibility increases minority influence is supported by evidence.
E: Nemeth et al (1987) simulated a jury situation where group members discussed the amount of compensation to be paid to someone in a ski-lift accident. When a confederate put forward an alternative 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. However, influence was only evident in those who shifted late in negotiations (showing flexibility) rather than those who shifted earlier (percieved as having ‘caved in’ to the majority).
E: This suggests that flexibility plays a role in minority influence but it’s only effective at changing the majority opinion in certain circumstances.
Evaluate real life examples as a strength of minority influence
P: The processes of commitment, flexibility and commitment can be seen in real life examples.
E: Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. She was arrested and fined, but her lonely act of defiance drew attention to her view and she began a movement that ended legal racial segregation in America. The movement kept their message the same over time e.g. the Montgomery bus boycott that lasted 381 days.
E: Strength of commitment because it demonstrates that engaging in activities that present some risk by the minority, does influence the majority view. Also is a strength of consistency because having the same message over time, also showed to influence the majority.
Evaluate low ecological validity as a limitation of studies into minority influence
P: Research is that the tasks involved are often low in ecological validity.
E: In Moscovici’s study the task of identifying the colour of a slide is not like how minorities attempt to change the behaviour in real life. In cases such as jury decision making and political campaigning, the outcomes are vastly more important, sometimes even literally a matter of life and death.
E: imitation because it means the findings of minority influence studies lack external validity and dont show us how minority influence works in real-life social situations.
Evaluate the idea that minority influence may not be very powerful as a limitation
P: The effect may not be very powerful.
E: In Moscovici’s research the figure for agreement with a consistent minority was very low, on average only 8%.
E: This is a limitation of minority influence because it suggests that it is a quite rate and not useful concept.
