minority influence Flashcards
what is minority influence
minority influence refers to situations where one person or a small group of people (i.e. the minority) influences the beliefs and behviours of other people
how is minority influence different from conformity
conformity involves the majority doing the influence ( therefore conformity is sometimes referred to
as majority influence) while minority influence involves the influence of the minority (hence the name)
what is minority influence likely to lead to
minority influence is likely to leaf to internalistaion where the public and private beliefs are changed by the process
how is minority influence and majority influence similar
in both cases the people being influenced may just be one person, or a small group or a large of people
what are the three factors that help minority influence
- consistency
- flexibility
- commitment
what are the different types of consistency
over time, the consistency in the minority’s views increases the amount of interest from other people
The consistency might be agreement between people in the minority group (synchronic consistency - they’re all saying the same thing ) and/ or for consistency over time (diachronic consistency)
how does consistency affect minority influence
such consistency make other people start to rethink their own views e.g.
- “maybe they’ve got a point if they all think like this”
- “maybe they’ve got a point if they keep saying it”
how do minorities show commitment to their cause
sometimes minorities engage in quite extreme activities to draw attention to their views
It is important that these extreme activities are t some risk to the minority because this demonstrates commitment to the cause
how does commitment affect minority influence
commitment causes the majority group members to draw even more attention to their cause e.g.:
-“wow, he must really believe in what he’s saying so perhaps I ought to consider his views”
This is called the AUGMENTATION PRINCIPLE
who argued that consistency was not the only important factor in minority influence
Nemeth (1986) argued that consistency is not the only important factor in minority influence because it can be interpreted negatively
how can consistency be interpreted negatively
Repeating the same arguments and behaviours again and again can be seen as rigid, unbending dogmatic and inflexible.
This can be off putting to the majority and unlikely to result in any conversions to the minority position
how can we solve the problems that come with consistency
Members of the minority need to be prepared to adapt their point of view and accept reasonable and valid counter - arguments
Therefore the key is to find the balance between consistency and flexibility
what is the process of change
These three factors:
- flexibility
- commitment
- consistency
make people think about the topic
If you hear something which agrees with what you all stop and think. But if you hear something new, then you might think about it, especially if the source of this other views consistent and passionate
It is this deeper processing which is important in the process of conversion to a different minority viewpoint.
Over time, increasing numbers of people switch from the majority to the minority position - they have been “converted”. The more this happens the faster the rate of conversion
This is called the “SNOWBALL EFFECT”
Gradually the minority becomes the majority and the change has occurred
what is a study that demonstrates minority influence
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/green
In each group there were two confederated who consistently said the slides were green on 2/3 of the trials. The participants gave the same wrong answer on 8.42% of trials, 32% gave the same answer as the minority on at least one trial
A 2nd group of participants was exposed to an inconsistent minority and agreement fell to 1.25%.
For a third control group there were no confederates and all participants had to do was identify the colour of each slide. They got this wrong just 0.,25%
- this shows how important consistency is in minority influence
