Social Influence L12 - 13 (Minority Influence)

Question 1

What is minority influence?

Answer 1

A type of social influence where individuals are motivated to reject the established majority group norms

Question 2

How is minority influence achieved?

Answer 2

• Through the process of conversion
• Conversion = New belief is being accepted both publicly and privately (type of internalisation)

Question 3

What are the three behavioural characteristics of the minority and who established each?

Answer 3

• Consistency (research)
• Commitment (suggested by Moscovici)
• Flexibility (suggested by Moscovici)

Question 4

How does consistency work?

Answer 4

• Showing confidence in beliefs
• Appearing unbiased
• Causes others to reassess situation
• Nemeth (2010) stated after all, there must be a reason why the minority takes the position it does and is confident to maintain it over time

Question 5

What was the aim and procedure of Moscovici’s study?

Answer 5

Moscovici (1969)
- Can a consistent minority influence the majority to give an incorrect answer?

• 172 female pps in colour perception task
• Groups of 6
• 36 slides w/ varying shades of blue and asked to state the colour of each one
• 2 of 6 were confederates
• In the (consistent) condition, they said all slides were green
• In the (inconsistent) condition, they said 24 were green and 12 were blue

Question 6

What were the findings of Moscovici’s study?

Answer 6

• Consistent condition –> Pps agreed on 8.2% of the trials
• Inconsistent condition –> Pps agreed on 1.25% of the trials

Question 7

What other research evidence is there for consistency?

Answer 7

• Wood et al (1994) carried out meta-analysis of 97 studies of minority influence and found those who were especially consistent were particularly influential

Question 8

How does commitment work?

Answer 8

• Suggests certainty, confidence and courage
• Degree of commitment is typically greater due to risk of joining a minority compared to a majority
• Augmentation principle = Majority will pay more interest if minority is doing smth quite risky by committing

Question 9

What other research evidence is there for commitment?

Answer 9

Xie et al (2011) found a ‘ tipping point’ where at least around 10% of the population needs to be minority to be able to influence the majority

Question 10

What does Mugny (what yr?) say about flexibility and how does it work?

Answer 10

• Mugny (1982) suggests flexibility is more effective at changing majority rather than commitment
• Because minority are generally powerless, it is important that they negotiate rather than enforce their position

Question 11

What does Nemeth say about flexibility and what was the aim of his study?

Answer 11

• Nemeth (1986) argues it is important to strike a balance between commitment and flexibility
• Investigate importance of flexibility for minority influence

Question 12

What was the procedure of Nemeth’s study?

Answer 12

• Groups of 4
• Had to agree on amount of compensation given to victim of ski-lift accident
• 1/4 was a confederate
• One (inflexible) condition was when minority argued for low rate and refused to negotiate
• Second (flexible) condition was when minority argued for low rate but compromised by offering a slightly higher rate

Question 13

What were the results of Nemeth’s study?

Answer 13

• Inflexible condition –> Minority had little/no effect on majority
• Flexible condition –> Maj members were much more likely to compromise

Question 14

List the strengths of minority influence

Answer 14

• Real value of research
• Research evidence to show minority influence involves deeper processing ideas

Question 15

How is there real value in the research into minority influence?

Answer 15

• Nemeth (2010) argued dissent of minority grp opens the mind and people search for information and consider more options
• Allows researchers to understand the processes for social change

Question 16

What research evidence shows the involvement of deeper processing ideas in minority influence?

Answer 16

• Martin et al (2003) gave pps a message supporting a viewpoint and measured their support
• 1 grp heard the minority agree w/ view
• Other grp heard majority agree w/ view
• After being exposed to a conflicting view, pps were less willing to change opinions if they had listened to minority
• Shows power of minority influence to have an enduring effect

Question 17

Weaknesses of minority influence:

Answer 17

Lack of ecological validity in research

Question 18

How does minority influence research lack ecological validity?

Answer 18

• Lack of realism in Moscovici’s colour perception task means demand characteristics may have been shown
• Nemeth (2010) claimed it is still difficult to convince people of the value of dissent because they might accept the minority view on the surface but not actually internalise it

Question 19

What is social change?

Answer 19

When a whole society changes and adopts new beliefs, commonly as a result of minority influence

Question 20

5 stages of social change:

Answer 20

1) Drawing attention to issue
2) Consistency of position –> over time and w/ each other
3) Deeper processing –> thinking about the status quo and its possible unjustness
4) Augmentation principle –> willing to suffer for change
5) Snowball effect –> ideas spread widely and minority becomes majority due to conformity through NSI or ISI
6) Social cryptoamnesia –> Source and message of the change has been disassociated. It is now the law/social norm

Question 21

Give one study that shows the role of conformity in social change:

Answer 21

• Asch’s study –> Conformity dropped when there was one dissenter (even if answer was incorrect)

Question 22

Give two examples of research that shows the role of obedience in social change

Answer 22

• Milgram’s research –> When 1 disobedient pp refused, obedience rates decreased dramatically
• Zimbardo (2007) suggested how obedience can be used to create social change through process of gradual commitment

Question 23

Give one research example of the role of minority influence in social change

Answer 23

• Moscovici’s research demonstrated the needs of commitment, flexibility and consistency that evokes conversion
• Over time, the snowball effect causes social change to occur

Question 24

What are the strengths of social influence processes in social change?

Answer 24

Research support for role of conformity:
- Nolan (2008) investigated whether these processes led to a reduction in consumption of energy
- Hung messages (about reducing energy usage) on doors of houses in San Diego every week for a month
- Control group had a message not referring to other residents
- Grp w/ message referencing other residents showed decrease in energy usage due to NSI

Question 25

What are the weaknesses of social influence processes in social change?

Answer 25

• Effects of minority influence is indirect and delayed
• Social change can only occur if minority does not have negative connotations

Question 26

Who argued that minority influence is indirect and delayed and why?

Answer 26

• Nemeth (1986)
• Indirect, as they will only be influenced by the matter at hand rather than the central issues themselves
• Delayed, as effects may be not be seen for some time
• As a result, it is difficult to test in a scientific setting

Question 27

What research evidence done by who shows social change can only occur if minority does not have negative connotations?

Answer 27

• Bashir et al (2013) found pps were less likely to behave in environmentally friendly ways as they didn’t want to be associated with stereotypical ‘tree huggers’
• Shows possible barriers for social change that can exist