Minority Influence ; Consistency , Commitment, Flexibility

Question 1

What is minority influence?

Answer 1

This occurs when a smaller group (minority) influences the majority so that their views most likely become internalised (congruence between behaviour and internal beliefs)

Question 2

What is an example of minority influence and what does minority influence contrast?

Answer 2

E.g social media influencers becoming more common in society
Minority influence contrasts to conformity which usually involves the minority conforming to the majority

Question 3

What is synchronic consistency and what is diachronic consistency?

Answer 3

Synchronic - members all say the same thing which is influential.
Diachronic - where members are consistent over time, also influential.

Question 4

What did Moscovici (1969) do to test for consistency?

Answer 4

He tested female ppts in his experiment, with there being 4 ppts and 2 confederates. He showed them different blue/green slides and asked them to publicly identify the colour of the slides.

Question 5

What experimental design was Moscovici’s (1969) test?

Answer 5

Independent groups

Question 6

What were the three conditions that Moscovici included for his (1969) test?

Answer 6

1. Consistent minority group (2 conf., 4 ppts) with the confederates always saying the sides are green.
2. Inconsistent minority group (2 conf. 4 ppts) with the confederates saying the slides were green 2/3 of the time.
3. Control group, included 6 ppts and no confederates.

Question 7

What was the result from the consistent minority group in Moscovici’s study?

Answer 7

This was the most influential, with the confederates causing the ppts to be influenced 8.42% of the time.

Question 8

What was the result from the inconsistent minority group in Moscovici’s study?

Answer 8

They influenced ppts 1.25% of the time

Question 9

What was the result from the control group in Moscovici’s study?

Answer 9

They got the colour wrong 0.25% of the trials.

Question 10

What do the findings of Moscovici’s study suggest about consistency as a factor for minority influence?

Answer 10

Suggests consistent minorities are more influential in bringing about social change and that inconsistent minorities will have more of a negligible impact on the majority.

Question 11

What did Wood et al. (1994) find that supports Moscovici’s findings?

Answer 11

Found in a meta-analysis of 100 similar studies that consistent minorities were more persuasive than inconsistent ones.

Question 12

What is the main issue with Moscovici’s study and what does this prevent him from doing?

Answer 12

He only chose female students as he believed they’d be more familiar with colours than males, with several studies indicating women to have a better colour identification.
This means that there is some beta bias as the results can’t be generalised to males.

Question 13

What is beta bias?

Answer 13

This is when the two genders are treated to be like the same but there is actually in fact a real difference

Question 14

What is commitment as a factor for minority influence?

Answer 14

It is often easier to agree with a minority when they appear to be committed to the cause they believe in

Question 15

What are the three things commitment shows?

Answer 15

Certainty, confidence, courage

Question 16

Why can joining a minority be more difficult than joining a majority?

Answer 16

The minority usually undertakes change by doing something risky, however the more riskier this thing may be the more it will be perceived committed.

Question 17

What is an example of a minority doing something risky to impose change?

Answer 17

Fathers 4 Justice campaigns for Innocent fathers to be granted right to see their children. A member climbed Buckingham Palace and displayed their activist banner, with this event attracting widespread newspaper and majority’s attention.

Question 18

What is the augmentation principle?

Answer 18

This is when a message can be empowered more by attracting attention and showing the minority group’s commitment.

Question 19

What did Xie et al. (2011) do to support Commitment as a factor for minority influence?

Answer 19

He gave ppts a task of interacting on a copy of a social network, with the researcher manipulating the messages so they would access how large/ consistent a minority on a network needed to be to influence the majority.

Question 20

What was the result from Xie et al. (2011) findings?

Answer 20

Found that when 10% of the minority have the same committed beliefs, this is enough to change the majority’s position.

Question 21

What does the result from Xie et al’s findings (2011) suggest ?

Answer 21

Similar effects have been found in the real world which suggests minorities can have a larger-than-expected effect on viewpoints.

Question 22

What did Nemeth (2010) suggest about commitment as a factor for minority influence?

Answer 22

Suggested that being in the presence of a minority dissenter can have a considerable influence as it encourages people to be more open minded and to consider other viewpoints

Question 23

What did Kruglanksi suggest about commitment as a factor for minority influence, in regards to terrorism?

Answer 23

It could be one reason why people are willing to commit acts of terrorism. Members of the majority may consider the message if their attention is captured by e.g someone killings themselves.

Question 24

What did Nemeth refute against Kruglanski’s suggestion regarding commitment and terrorism?

Answer 24

Stated the majority is rarely going to accept such extreme acts and that terrorism is most likely to make sure that people in the majority do not listen, with the extreme acts showing a lack of flexibility.

Question 25

What did Nemeth (1986) argue against consistency?

Answer 25

They suggested consistency can be off-putting when it is taken to the extreme.

Question 26

What did Nemeth (1986) suggest that summarises flexibility as a factor for minority influence?

Answer 26

Suggested that a minority willing to compromise on other parts whilst still maintaining their main beliefs is more likely to influence a majority, and that there should be a balance between consistency and flexibility.

Question 27

What did Nemeth + Brilmayer (1987) find out regarding jury studies?

Answer 27

Found that in simulated jury studies, the ability to be flexible was important in persuading others to the minority point of view.

Question 28

What were the two results from Nemeth + Brilmayer’s (1987) study regarding jury studies?

Answer 28

-when confederate put forward an opposing point of view + refused to be flexible, they were ignored by the majority
-If confederate was willing to compromise, they could influence the rest of the group

Question 29

What is the main issue that Nemeth and Brilmayer suggested when a minority influence compromises with the majority?

Answer 29

They found it’s important to hold out and show consistency before compromising so as not to be seen as weak; this would be less likely to influence the majority.

Question 30

What did Papastamou (1982) do to support the role of flexibility in minority influence?

Answer 30

They asked ppts to respond to questions on responsibility for pollution and then exposed them to extreme views that the minority have in regards to controlling pollution.

Question 31

What were the two results from Papastamou’s study (1982)?

Answer 31

When the minority refused to budge on their opinion, they weren’t persuasive.
However, when they started to compromise and show flexibility, they seemed less extreme and were more persuasive.

Question 32

What do the findings from Papastamou’s study (1982) suggest about flexibility as a factor for minority influence?

Answer 32

Suggests that flexibility may be more important than consistency to enable minority influence.