Social Influence: Minority Influence Flashcards
What is Minority Influence?
Social influence can occur when a minority (small group) changes the attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of a majority.
How powerful is Minority influence?
Minority influence is a very powerful form of social influence, Moscovici argued that it is more likely than majority influence to result in internalisation of the message. Meaning it causes a deep and long lasting change in opinion.
How do minorities go about influencing a majority using COMMITMENT?
The behaviour of the minority is more likely to be persuasive if they show the majority that they are committed to their message. (I.e they truly believe in their message). Moscovici argued that minorities demonstrate commitment through making sacrifices (e.g time or money), this demonstrated commitment as it shows how the minority aren’t committed to their message out of self interest but cause they believe their message is correct.
Why is Commitment persuasive?
Because a majority will only internalise a message if they believe it is correct. Therefore, it’s vital the minority shows that they truly believe in the message, otherwise conversion will not occur.
How do minorities go about influencing a majority using CONSISTENCY?
Minority groups can demonstrate consistency in two ways:
1. Synchronic Consistency- where all members of the minority group deliver the same message.
2. Diachronic Consistency- where the minority continues to deliver the same message over time.
Why is Consistency Persuasive?
If a minority is consistent in how they deliver their message, this suggests they truly understand and believe in their message (i.e. they are committed). A message delivered by a committed minority is more likely to be internalised, meaning conversion is more likely.
How do minorities go about influencing a majority by using FLEXBILITY?
A minority can show it is flexible by listening to alternative viewpoints and making concessions to alternative points of view.
How is a Flexibility persuasive?
Flexibility is persuasive because it suggests the minority is reasonable and therefore more likely to have reached the correct answer.
What research support is there for the importance of consistency in the minority influence?
Moscovici found participants on their own made almost no errors when asked to identify the colour of some blue slides alone but when placed in a group with confederates (who occasionally gave the wrong answers) more errors where made, and significantly more errors were made if the minority consistently gave the wrong answers. This clearly shows that the impact of a minority is considerably greater when the minority is consistent supporting Moscovicis claim that consistency is an important technique used by minorities to influence the majority. However, participants did make more errors in the inconsistent minority condition compared to the control condition, showing that even an inconsistent minority can have some influence. Whereas, Moscovici required participants to complete a highly artificial task, which tells us little about real world examples of minority influence, meaning it lacks ecological validity.
What research support is there for the role of flexibility in minority influence?
Nemeth had groups of participants decide on an amount of compensation they would give to a victim of a ski lift accident. Nemeth found that a single confederate within the group was more effective at arguing for a low amount if they started low but adjusted their figure upwards rather than staying fixed on a low sum. This study supports the idea that minorities can be more persuasive if they adopt a flexible approach as when the confederate adjusted their argument in response to the majority position, more participants were influenced. This shows the limits of consistency as being flexible inevitably means a reduction in levels of consistency. However Nemeth also found that the confederate was only able to persuade the majority if they shifted late into the negotiations, as this was perceived as flexible. But if the confederate shifted early to the majorities position, this was seen as caving in, demonstrating that factors effecting minority influence are complex. This study’s support for the role of flexibility is especially compelling as it has strong ecological validity since the task is typical to real world examples.
What is the research support for the importance of Minority Influence?
Wood (1994) conducted a meta analysis of almost 100 studies and found that minorities who were perceived as being consistent were the most influential. This provides support for Moscovicis claim about the importance of consistency as a vital communication style if minorities wish to persuade majorities. It is especially compelling as it comes from meta analysis which is the strongest form of scientific evidence meaning the sample is likely to be representative of the general public. Consequently it has strong external validity.
