Psychology - Social Influence - Minority influence

Question 1

Minority influence

Answer 1

Social influence which motivates individual to reject established majority group norms.

Question 2

How is minority influence achieved?

Answer 2

Process of conversion where majorities are gradually won over to a minority viewpoint.

Question 3

Conversion

Answer 3

New belief/behaviour is accepted both publicly and privately. A type of internalisation

Question 4

What would happen if people went with the majority all the time?

Answer 4

There would be no change or innovation

Question 5

Why is minority influence always associated with internalisation?

Answer 5

It leads to disagreeing with the majority and this would usually only happen if they genuinely believed it was wrong

Question 6

What are the Behavioural characteristics of an influential minority?

Answer 6

Consistency, Commitment and Flexibility

Question 7

Who suggested it is important for the minority to show consistency, commitment and flexibility?

Answer 7

Moscovici

Question 8

What is the most importantly behavioural characteristic of an influential minority?

Answer 8

consistency

Question 9

Consistency in influential minorities

Answer 9

Minority influence will be persuasive if consistent with opinions/behaviours, if they are confident and unbiased as others reassess the situation and carefully consider it. Nemeth (2010)

Question 10

What is the Research support for consistency as an important behavioural characteristic for minority influence?

Answer 10

Moscovici et al. (1969), Wood et al. (1994)

Question 11

Wood et al (1994)

Answer 11

Meta-analysis of 97 studies of minority influence. Found those who were perceived as consistent were particularly influential.

Question 12

What was the aim of Moscovici et al (1969)?

Answer 12

to see if a consistent minority could influence a majority to give an incorrect answer in a colour perception task

Question 13

What was the method of Moscovici et al (1969)?

Answer 13

172 female pps did a colour perception task placed in groups of 6 (2 confederates) and shown 36 slides of blue, had to state each color. One condition (consistent) said was all green, second condition (inconsistent) 24 green and 12 blue

Question 14

What did Moscovici et al (1969) Find?

Answer 14

Consistent condition they agreed on 8.2% of trials and in inconsistent they agreed 1.25%

Question 15

What was the conclusion Moscovici et al (1969)?

Answer 15

Show that a consistent majority is 6.95% more effective than inconsistent

Question 16

Commitment in influential minorities

Answer 16

Important as it shows certainty, confidence and courage and causes minority to take them more seriously. Augmentation principle shows how minorities can change the majority.

Question 17

augmentation principle

Answer 17

the idea that people should assign greater weight to a particular cause of behavior if other causes are present that normally would produce a different outcome

Question 18

Why does commitment of a minority influence suggest certainty, confidence and courage?

Answer 18

Because joining a minority has a greater cost for the individual than staying with the majority, the degree of commitment shown by minority group members is typically greater

Question 19

What is the research support for commitment?

Answer 19

Xie et al (2011)

Question 20

Xie et al. (2011)

Answer 20

Found support for the ‘snowball effect’ in minority influence, and a ‘tipping point’ of 10% accepting the minority position, in a study involving computer modelling of social networks.

Question 21

Flexibility in influencial minorities

Answer 21

Mugny (1982) suggests flexibility is more effective at changing majority opinion than the rigidity of arguments. A minority that is too flexible or too rigid risks being seen as weak and inconsistent or dogmatic. Nemeth (1986) believes a balance between consistency and flexibility is needed.

Question 22

What is the research support for flexibility?

Answer 22

Nemeth (1986)

Question 23

Nemeth (1986) Aim

Answer 23

Believed consistency was not the most important factor in minority influence and can be seen as a negative trait so wanted to investigate flexibility.

Question 24

Nemeth (1986) method

Answer 24

pps in groups of 4 had to agree on compensation for a victim of a ski-lift accident. One pp in each group was a confederate First condition, minority argued for low rate of compensation and were inflexible. Second condition, minority argued for low rate of compensation but were flexible

Question 25

Nemeth (1986) results

Answer 25

in the Inflexible condition minority had little effect on majority but in flexible condition they were more likely to compromise and change their view.

Question 26

Nemeth (1986) Conclusion

Answer 26

Highlights the importance of flexibility and questions the idea of consistency suggesting that striking a balance between the two is most successful

Question 27

Strength of research on minority influence

Answer 27

• Real value of research into minority influence argued by Nemeth (2010), researchers can understand social change - Research evidence that shows change in minority positions involves deeper processing of ideas, Martin et al (2003)

Question 28

How does Nemeth (2010) argue for the value of research into minority influence?

Answer 28

The dissent in the form of the minority group opens the mind so people search for info and make better decisions. So social change can be understood

Question 29

What research evidence does Martin et al (2003) provide for minority influence involving deeper processing of ideas?

Answer 29

Gave participants a message supporting a particular viewpoint and measured their support, 1 group heard minority group agree with the initial view and the other heard a majority agree. Pps less willing to change their opinion if they listened to minority.

Question 30

What are the weaknesses of research on minority influence?

Answer 30

• Lack of realism to the tasks given, like in Moscovici’s study, lack of ecological validity - May not apply to real life situations shown by Nemeth (2010)

Question 31

How does Nemeth (2010) show that research on minority influence may not apply to real life situations?

Answer 31

It is still difficult to convince people of the value of the dissent since people may accept the minority opinion on the surface but may become irritated by this view fearing lack of harmony.

Question 32

Social Change

Answer 32

When a whole society adopts a new belief or way of behaving which then becomes widely accepted as the ‘norm’. Commonly result of minority influence.

Question 33

How many stages are there in the role of minority influence in social change?

Answer 33

6

Question 34

What is the 1st stage of Minority Influence in social change?

Answer 34

Minorities draw attention to the issue

Question 35

What is the 2nd stage of Minority Influence in social change?

Answer 35

Consistency of Position

Question 36

What is the 3rd stage of Minority Influence in social change?

Answer 36

Deeper processing of the issue

Question 37

What is the 4th stage of Minority Influence in social change?

Answer 37

The Augmentation principle (minority appears willing to suffer for their views)

Question 38

What is the 5th stage of Minority Influence in social change?

Answer 38

Snowball effect (the idea spreads through NSI or ISI)

Question 39

What is the 6th stage of Minority Influence in social change?

Answer 39

Social cryptoamnesia

Question 40

Social Cryptoamnesia

Answer 40

Where the majority forget the root cause of the social change, helping to maintain the change

Question 41

What is the strength of role of social influence process in social change?

Answer 41

• Research evidence for NSI bringing social change, Nolan (2008) on energy consumption

Question 42

How does Nolan et al (2008) provide evidence for the role of normative social influence in bringing social change?

Answer 42

Hung messages on the door of houses in San Diego every week a month that most residents were trying to reduce energy usage with a control group and found the other group decreased energy usage

Question 43

What are the weaknesses of role of social influence process in social change?

Answer 43

• Nemeth (1986) argued that the effects of minority influence are indirect and delayed, difficult to test - Barriers to social change, Bashir et al (2013) such as stereotypes

Question 44

How does Nemeth (1986) argue that the effects of minority influence are indirect and delayed?

Answer 44

The majority is influenced only on the matters at hand rather than the central issues and effects may not be seen for a while. effects are fragile and limited .hard to measure in a scientific setting

Question 45

What barriers to social change did Bashir et al (2013) find?

Answer 45

Negative and extremist stereotypes can be difficult to shift and prevent social change