Social influence 5 | Minority influence Flashcards
AO1: What is minority influence?
Minority influence occurs when a smaller group persuades the majority to adopt their viewpoint leading to internalisation where beliefs and behaviors change both publicly and privately.
AO1: What is consistency in minority influence?
Consistency means the minority maintains the same message over time and between individuals making their argument appear more credible and influential.
AO1: What is commitment in minority influence?
Commitment involves the minority demonstrating dedication to their cause often through extreme actions or personal sacrifices which gains attention and makes their viewpoint more influential.
AO1: What is flexibility in minority influence?
Flexibility means the minority must be willing to adapt their arguments and compromise rather than appearing rigid and dogmatic to increase their likelihood of influencing the majority.
AO1: What research supports consistency in minority influence?
Moscovici et al. (1969) found that a consistent minority was more effective in influencing the majority to say slides were green rather than blue showing the importance of consistency.
AO1: What research supports flexibility in minority influence?
Nemeth (1986) found that a minority arguing rigidly for low compensation had little influence but when they showed flexibility they were more likely to persuade the majority.
AO3: What is a strength of consistency in minority influence?
Research by Moscovici et al. (1969) supports consistency as an important factor in minority influence increasing the validity of the theory.
AO3: What is a limitation of research into minority influence?
Studies use artificial tasks like judging slide colors which lack ecological validity making it difficult to generalise findings to real-world social change.
AO3: What is a strength of flexibility in minority influence?
Research by Nemeth (1986) found that flexible minorities were more persuasive than rigid ones supporting the idea that adaptability enhances minority influence.
AO3: What is a limitation of minority influence research in real-world applications?
Real-world minorities face power imbalances and resistance which research does not fully account for making laboratory findings less generalisable to real-life social change.
