Moscovici - minority influence

Question 1

what was moscovici’s aim?

Answer 1

to investigate the effects of a consistent minority on a majority

Question 2

what was the procedure?

Answer 2

• 4 naïve participants and a minority of 2 Confederates
• participants shown 36 slides- all obviously shades of blue- asked to state the colour each slide out loud.
• consistent condition: confederate repeatedly said green on every trial
• inconsistent condition: confederates said green 2/3 times
• control condition: 6 naïve participants and no confederates.

Question 3

what were the findings?

Answer 3

consistent conditions:
consistent minority influenced the naïve participants on over 8% of the trials
inconsistent conditions:
the inconsistent minority made agreement fall to 1.25%
control conditions:
no confederates- participants called blue throughout.

Question 4

what did he conclude?

Answer 4

• minorities can influence majorities

- influence is more effective when the minority are consistent.

Question 5

what are some strengths of his study?

Answer 5

+high control (lab experiment) so no extraneous variables

+real life application- role of consistent minority influence (protests etc)

Question 6

what are some weaknesses of his study?

Answer 6

• subject to demand characteristics because of lab experiment
• artificial environment - lack of ecological validity (external validity)
• individual differences -conforming or authoritarian.

Question 7

what other factors are important in the effectiveness of a minority?

Answer 7

commitment and flexibility

Question 8

how does commitment act as a factor in increasing minority influence?

Answer 8

• sometimes minorities engage in quite extreme activities to draw attention to their cause
• extreme activists can be effective because they pose some kind of risk to the minority by demonstrating commitment to their cause
• this increases the interest that the majority tale in the minority (augmentation principle)
• commitment may also involve dedicating time and money etc.

Question 9

how does flexibility act as a factor in increasing minority influence.

Answer 9

• being over-consistent and repeating the same argument can be seen as dogmatic (being narrow minded and refusing other opinions).
• this is off putting to the majority
• minorities need to prepare to adapt their point of view and accept reasonable arguments and therefor compromise.