social influence- minority influence

Question 1

minority influence

Answer 1

how one person or small group influences the beliefs and behaviour of other people

Question 2

how is minority influence different to conformity?

Answer 2

minority may influence just one person, or a group of people (majority)- this is different from conformity where the majority does the influencing.

Question 3

internalisation

Answer 3

-public behaviour and private beliefs changed
-minority influence leads to this
-three processes consistency, commitment, flexibility

Question 4

role of consistency in minority influence

Answer 4

-doing same thing
-means minority’s views gain more interest
-consistency makes others rethink views
-synchronic and diachronic consistency

Question 5

synchronic consistency

Answer 5

people in minority all saying the same thing

Question 6

diachronic consistency

Answer 6

all being saying the same thing for some time

Question 7

role of commitment in minority influence

Answer 7

-shows deep involvement
-helps gain attention (e.g. extreme activities)
-must create some risk to demonstrate commitment to cause
-augmentation principle

Question 8

augmentation principle

Answer 8

majority pay even more attention

Question 9

role of flexibility in minority influence

Answer 9

-shows willingness to listen to others
-the minority should balance consistency and flexibility so don’t appear rigid
-Nemeth (1986)
-minority adapt their POV and accept reasonable counterarguments

Question 10

Nemeth on flexibility in minority influence

Answer 10

-1986
-being consistent and repeating same arguments and behaviours is rigid and off-putting to majority

Question 11

process of minority influence

Answer 11

-individuals think deeply ab the minority position as its new/unfamiliar
-snowball effect- switch from minority to majority
-more this happens, faster the rate of conversion
-gradually minority becomes majority and social change has occurred.

Question 12

snowball effect

Answer 12

-over time more people become ‘converted’
-there’s a switch from minority to majority

Question 13

ao3 for consistency

Answer 13

-Moscovici et al (1969) found a consistent minority opinion had greater effect than an inconsistent one
-Wood et al (1994) meta analysis of almost 100 studies, found minorities seen as consistent most influential
-confirms consistency a major factor in MI

Question 14

ao3 for deeper processing

Answer 14

-Martin et al. (2003) gave p’s a message supporting a particular viewpoint and measured attitudes. heard endorsement of view from either minority or majority. finally heard a conflicting view, attitudes measured again
-if p’s listened to minority group, less willing to change opinion to new view than if listened to majority group
-suggests minority message had been more deeply processed and had a more enduring effect.

Question 15

counterpoint ao3 for deeper processing- limited

Answer 15

-in research studies minority/majority groups distinguished by numbers
-more to majorities/minorities than just numbers (e.g. power, status, commitment)
-research studies limited in what they tell us about real-world minority influence

Question 16

ao3 for minority influence- artificial tasks

Answer 16

-Moschovici et al’s task was identifying colour of slide, far from removed from how minorities try to change majority opinion in real world
-in jury decision-making and political campaigning outcomes vastly different maybe even matter of life or death
-findings of studies lack external validity, limited in what they tell us ab how MI works in real-world situations