minority influence Flashcards
minority influence vs majority influence
- majority influence (conformity)- people identify with majority and try to ‘fit in’ with their opinions
- minority influence= people consider message itself + want to understand why the minority hold this position
what is minority influence more likely to lead to?
internalisation
what is minority influence?
when a small group of people/individual changes the attitudes, behaviours + beliefs of the majority
factors to enhance effectiveness of minority influence?
flexibility
consistency
commitment
what is meant by flexibility?
- minority should adapt their point of view + accept reasonable and valid counter opinions –> otherwise could put people off + they may remain unsympathetic
- this is where consistency should be modified (need a balance)
what is meant by consistency?
- consistent shows majority you are firm, resolute + strong in the face of possible criticism or outright hostility
- consistent minority makes people rethink their own views?
what are the two types of consistency?
- diachronic consistency
- synchronic consistency
diachronic consistency
minority have been arguing their view/message for some time
synchronic consistency
minority all share same view/message
what is meant by commitment?
- need to show full commitment to their message
- can be shown by indirect + direct action (maybe extreme cases (e.g. burning things etc)) –> this makes minority pay more attention
- strong commitment (even when being mocked) –> lead to majority to think the minority believe in their campaign (augmentation principle)
what are the processes of change?
overtime increasing numbers of people switch from majority position to minority –> they’ve become converted –> more this happens=faster rate of conversion –> SNOWBALL EFFECT
Moscovoici el at sudy: aim
see if minority could influence majority when choosing between different colour slides
Moscovoici el at sudy: procedure
- ppts. given eye tests (to check if colour blind)
- placed in groups (4 ppts. + 2 confederates)
- shown 36 slides of different shades of blue + asked to state colour of each slide out loud
- first part the 2 confederates said green but for all 36 slides (consistent in response)
- second part they said green 24x and blue 12 x (inconsistent in response)
Moscovoici el at sudy: results
- when confederates consistent 4 ppts conformed and called slide green 8.42% of the trials, 32% calling a slide green at least once
- when inconsistent in answers= conformity reduced to 1.25%
Moscovoici el at sudy: conclusion
minority can influence majority when show consistent behaviour
Moscovoici el at sudy: eval points (pt1)
- 2/3 didn’t conform to minority at any time –> only small proportion so can’t generalise to public
- lab experiment- so wasn’t representative of something we’d expect
- only woman used= can’t generalise results
- artificial task= lacks mundane realism
- minority influence may be due to personality
Moscovoici el at sudy: eval points (pt2)
- wood et al did a meta-analysis of 100 similar studies + found minorities who were consistent = most influential
- political campaigning/Jury decision making= outcomes are important= many studies on MI lack external validity + limited on telling us how MI works in real life situations
Moscovoici el at sudy: eval points (pt3)
- variations in Moscovici study= ppts. wrote answers= private agreement with minority was greater
- they found ppl. less willing to change opinions if listened to minority group
- Martin et al- gave ppts. a message supporting a particular viewpoint + measured their support -> 1 group heart minority group agree, another heard majority –> ppts= exposed to conflicting views then had attitudes measured again
minority influence in research
- Asch- when dissenter broke power of majority= conformity dropped, could lead to social change
- milgram- when confederate teacher refused to shock learner= obedience of ppts. dropped (importance of a disobedient role model)
- zimbardo- used to create social change via gradual commitment
social change= encouraged by drawing attention to what others are doing
