PAPER 1 - SOCIAL INFLUENCE - minority influence

Question 1

what is minority influence?

Answer 1

people reject norm of the majority & gradually move towards minority - changes attitudes & behaviour with minority
- involves conversion & results in internalisation of views of the minority

Question 2

why does the conversion from majority to minority occur?

Answer 2

• being exposed to a different viewpoint different to our own causes cognitive conflict
• this causes us to think more deeply about an issue and our perspective

Question 3

what is consistency?

Answer 3

stability in the same expressed position over time and agreement between different members of the minority

Question 4

what is commitment?

Answer 4

putting in a cost/degree of dedication to a particular cause - suggests certainty, confidence & courage

Question 5

what is flexibility?

Answer 5

a willingness to compromise when expressing a position
- more effective when changing minority opinion than rigidity of arguments

Question 6

what are the 3 behaviours that enable minority to influence majority?

Answer 6

• consistency
• commitment
• flexibility

Question 7

what research support is there for minority influence?

Answer 7

• Nemeth and Brilmayer - role of flexibility in simulated jury about ski accident
• a confederate that showed some shift towards majority did influence rest of group
• only evident later shift than earlier

Question 8

what was the study by Moscovici?

Answer 8

• 4 naïve participants + 2 confederates shown slides
• ‘consistent’ experimental condition - confederates called all blue slides green
• ‘inconsistent condition’ - confederates called blue slides green 2/3 times
• control condition - no confederates, participants called slides blue throughout

Question 9

what were Moscovici’s findings?

Answer 9

• consistent minority influences naïve participants to say ‘green’ over 8% trials
• inconsistent minority has little influence
• control called them blue throughout

Question 10

what happened after Moscovici’s main study?

Answer 10

participants were asked (individually) to sort 16 discs into ‘blue’ or ‘green’
- 3 blue, 3 green discs were unambiguous, remaining 10 were ambiguous

Question 11

what were the findings for Moscovici’s disc sorting research?

Answer 11

• individuals in consistent and inconsistent set thresholds at different points
• consistent condition judged more to be green
  -even greater to those that hadn’t gone with minority, suggesting influence was more private than public level

Question 12

what were the strengths of Moscovici’s study(s)?

Answer 12

• control over variables - lab study
• allows for replication (standardisted procedure)
• establish causality
• internal validity

Question 13

what were the limitations of Moscovici’s study(s)?

Answer 13

• lacks enological validity and mundane realism - artificial
• only 8% trials supported - low rate