Minority Influence Flashcards
What is minority influence?
A form of social influence in which a minority of people persuade others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes and behaviours. It is sometimes just one person
What type of conformity is minority influence likely to lead to and why?
Internalisation because their both public behaviour and private beliefs are changed by the process
Who studied minority influence?
Moscovici
What was the method of his study?
Female undergraduate participants were tested in groups of six, four were participants and two were confederates. Each participant was asked to judge the colour of 36 slides. One condition was consistent, one was inconsistent and one had no confederates
What were the findings of the study?
In the consistent condition 8.4% called the sliDes green. In the inconsistent condition 1.25% called the sliDes green. When there were no confederates 0.25% said the slides were green
What is the conclusion of the study?
Minorities can influence the majority when the minority are consistent in their responses
What are the two limitations of Moscovicis study’s?
There is a lack of ecological validity and the sample lacks population validity
What are two strengths of Moscovicis study?
It is done in a controlled environment and there is support from Clarks study. 1 jurer persuaded another 11 to change their votes to innocent of the young man who was accused kF murdering his dad. It was a mock trial
Why is consistency effective?
It draws attention to the minority view and it increases interest from other people
Why is commitment effective?
It shows the minority is not acting out of self interest
Why is flexibility effectively?
I.E. the minority shows flexibility by accepting the possibility of compromise
