Minority influence

Question 1

what does minority influence refer to

Answer 1

• a situation at which a person or one small group of ppl influence the beliefs and behaviour of other ppl

Question 2

What three factors need to be used in order to influence a larger group

Answer 2

• consistency
• commitment
• flexibility

Question 3

Why should consistency be used to influence a majority

What can the consistency be split into

Answer 3

• the consistency of a minority’s view will increase the amount of interest from other people
• synchronic consistency (everyone is saying the same thing)
• diachronic consistency (consistency over time)
• this makes other people rethink their beliefs

Question 4

Why should commitment be used to influence a majority

Answer 4

• commitment can be demonstrated through the minority engaging in risky activities
• majority groups then pay more attention as they see the minority as truly believing in the cause
• this is called the augmentation principle

Question 5

Why should flexibility be used to influence a majority & who argued this

Answer 5

• Nemeth argued that consistency is not the only important factor in minority influence since it can be interpreted negatively
• repeating the same arguments and behaviours again and again can be seen as rigid
• this can be off putting to the majority
• members from the minorty position need to be prepared to adapt their point of view and accept reasonable and valid counter-arguments
• key is to strike a balance between felxibility and consistency

Question 6

How can the snowball effect relate to the process of change

Answer 6

• gradually the minority view has become the majority view and change has occurred

Question 7

Give an example of research support for consistency

Answer 7

• Wood et al carried out a meta-analysis of almost 100 similar studies and found that minorities who were seen as being consistent were most influential.

Question 8

Give a limitation of minority influence

Answer 8

• the tasks involved are artificial, therefore it cannot be applied to real life
• This means that findings of minority influence studies are lacking in external validity and are limited in their application to real life circumstances