Minority influence (lesson 9)

Question 1

What is the definition of minority influence

Answer 1

A form of social influence when a minority group of people or person persuades the majority group to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviour. This will lead to internalisation of the minority groups views

Question 2

What are the three behaviour styles that must be adopted for the minority to be successful in persuasion.

Answer 2

Consistency- the minority views must be consist and in their opinion to the majority. Consistency is recognised as resolution certainty,clarify of definition and coherence. Diachronic is where a person maintains a consistent position over time. Synchronic is where there is agreement among members of the minority group

Commitment- the minority is more powerful if they demonstrate their dedication to a cause. Eg - perhaps through personal sacrifice. If someone preforms an action when they are know constraints, his or her motive for acting are considered to be stronger- the will to ac5 with consequences. This is known as the Augmentation principle

Flexibility- being completely consistent all the time may actually give the impression that the minority is rigid and unbending which is undesirable. Members of the minority group need to be prepared to consider their views and accept reasonable counter arguments.

Question 3

What was the aim of Moscovici’s key study

Answer 3

To see whether a consistent minority of participants could influence a majority to give an incorrect answer in a colour perception test

Question 4

What was the procedure of Moscovici’s key study

Answer 4

He tested 32 groups of 6 women, 2 of which from each group were confederates. The group were shown 36 blue-coloured slides, which all varied slightly in their intensity. The participants were asked to verbally describe the colour of each slide, with the confederates answering first. The confederate consistently said the slides were green

Question 5

What were the findings of Moscovici’s key study

Answer 5

The participants agreed with the minority that the slides were green 8 percent of the time. 32 percent conformed at least once, however, when the confederates answered inconsistently the conformity went down to 1.25 percent. This showed that minority’s can influence a majority. But only if they adopt certain behaviours.

Question 6

Supporting research by nemeth

Answer 6

Studied Flexibility, used groups of 3 participants and one confederate in two conditions. In the first confederate would show inflexibility by arguing for a low level of compensation for the victim of an imaginary ski lift accident and not changing from that level. In the second confederate, he showed flexibility by raising his offer slightly. In this flexible condition the majority was much more likely to lower their compensation level closer to the confederates. And they did. Bus we can question this study’s validity as the participant was aware of the accident victim not being real.

Question 7

Why did Moscovici’s study lack generalisability

Answer 7

Because all the participants were female