Social Influence - Minority Influence Flashcards
Minority influence
A form of social influence in which a minority of people (or one person) persuade others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours
Belief system of someone who joins minority group
Public and private beliefs change
3 factors which enhance the effectiveness of minority influence
Consistency
Commitment
Flexibility
According to consistency, when is the minority influence the most effective?
Most effective when it keeps the same beliefs both over time and between each individual in the group
Two types of consistency
Synchronic consistency
Diachronic consistency
Synchronic consistency
Individuals in group are all saying the same thing
Diachronic consistency
All individuals have been saying the same thing for a long period of time
What does consistency of the minority group slowly start to make people in the majority group do?
Slow starts to make people in majority group think about their own views
According to commitment, when is the minority influence the most powerful?
When the minority group demonstrates how dedicated they are to their cause
What does commitment show about the minority group?
It shows they are not acting for their own self-interests
What may minorities do to draw attention to their views (commitment)?
They may engage in extreme activities, putting their lives at risk
According to the Augmentation Principle, what benefit does commitment have on the majority group?
Commitment makes the majority group become in awe of the lengths the minority will go to
According to flexibility, when is minority influence more effective?
When the minority shows flexibility by accepting the possibility of a compromise
Due to having flexibility, what are the individuals of the minority group prepared to do?
They are prepared to accept counter-arguments
Who carried out a study to investigate whether a consistent minority of participants could influence a majority to give an incorrect answer in a colour perception task? What was the study called? When was it carried out?
Moscovici et al (1969) - “blue-green slide”
Number of participants of the “blue-green slide” study
172
What were the participants of the “blue-green slide” study told?
They were told they were going to be tested to ensure that they were no colour blind
How were the participants of the “blue-green slide” study split?
In groups of 6, containing 4 participants and 2 confederates
What were the groups of participants asked to do in the “blue-green slide” study?
Asked to state the colour shown on the screen from 36 slides
Slides of the “blue-green slide” study
All slides were different shades of blue
Control group of the “blue-green slide” study
No confederates
Two conditions of the “blue-green slide” study
Condition A: confederates were consistent, calling slides green on all trials
Condition B: confederates not consistent, reporting green 24 times and blue 12 times
Percentage of participants of control group who reported any green slides in the “blue-green slide” study
0.25%
Findings of consistent group (condition A) of the “blue-green slide” study
Participants answers green in 8.42% of trials
32% of participants answered green at least once
Findings of inconsistent group (condition B) of the “blue-green slide” study
Participants answered green in 1.25% of trials
Conclusion of the “blue-green slide” study
Minorities can influence the majorities
When was the minority group the strongest in the “blue-green slide” study?
When the minorities were consistent in their views
Social change
When a society as a whole changes their beliefs, attitudes and actions
Examples of social changes
Women being allowed to vote due to suffragette movement
Places not being segregated due to civil rights movement
6 conditions for social change to minority influence in order
- Drawing attention to issue
- Consistency
- Deeper processing
- The Augmentation Principle
- The snowball effect
- Social cryptoamnesia
What does drawing attention to the issue involve?
Providing social proof to majority group that issue being reported by minority is true
What happens to the individuals who are in the majority group during the deeper processing condition of social change?
They begin to question their own beliefs and think about how unjust the issue actually is
The Augmentation Principle
Putting yourself at risk to demonstrate how committed you are to your cause
The snowball effect
Minority starts to convince majority so they change their views and join the minority group until it eventually becomes the majority group
During what condition does social change begin to occur?
- The snowball effect
Social cryptoamnesia
Forgetting that the minority ever existed as the change they campaigned for became the norm
What did Asch’s study highlight the importance of for minority influence?
Highlighted the importance of dissenters for minority influence
What can we learn about minority influence from Milgram’s study?
Feeling of responsibility for actions made people not obey in this study, demonstrating deeper processing of participants
What can we learn about minority influence from Zimbardo’s study finishing early due to extreme treatment of guards to prisoners?
Snowball effect demonstrated
Who identified some barriers to social change and minority influence? When?
Nemeth (1986)
What are the effects of minority influence likely to be according to Nemeth?
Indirect and delayed
Why are the effects of the minority influence likely to be indirect according to Nemeth?
Because the majority is influenced on matters only related to the issue on hand
Why are the effects of the minority influence likely to be delayed according to Nemeth?
Because the effects might not be seen for a long time
