SOCIAL INFLUENCE: Minority Influence Flashcards
What is minority influence
A form of social influence in which a minority of ppl persuade others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours. Leads to internalisation or conversion, in which private attitudes are changed as well as public behaviours
eg. rosa parks for black rights
Who conducted the consistent minority influence experiment (blue slides)
Moscovici et al. (1969)
What was the method of Moscovici’s experiment
This was a laboratory experiment investigating minority influence using 192 women.
In groups of 6 at a time, participants judged the colour of 36 slides. All slides were blue, but the brightness of the blue varied. 2 of the 6 participants in the group were confederates
In one condition the confederates called all 36 slides ‘green’ (consistent) and in another condition, they called 24 ‘green’ and 12 ‘blue’ (inconsistent). A control group was also used which contained no confederates
Results of Moscovici’s experiment
- In the control group, the participants called the slides ‘green’ 0.25% of the time
- In the CONSISTENT condition, 8.4% of the time, participants adopted the minority position & called the slides ‘green’ and 32% of participants called the slides ‘green’ at least once
- In the INCONSISTENT group, participants moved to the minority position of calling the spies ‘green’ only 1.25% of the time
Conclusion of Moscovici’s experiment
The confederates were in the minority but their views appear to have influenced the real participants.
The use of the two conditions illustrated that the minority had more influence when they were consistent in calling the slides ‘green’
Evaluation of Moscovici’s experiment
- Lacked ecological validity as was a laboratory experiment & task was artificial
- Participants may have felt that judging the colour of slides was a trivial exercise & may have acted differently if their principles were involved
- Results cannot be generalised as only women participated
- As there was a control group, we know that the participants were actually influenced by the minority rather than being independently unsure of the colours of the slides
- In a similar experiment, participants were asked to write down the colour rather than saying it out loud. Even more ppl agreed w the minority, which provides more support for minority influence. The majority who changed their views to the minority were reluctant to admit this publicly
Simple overview of Moscovici’s experiment
- Suggested that minorities can influence majorities
- However, indicating that this influence is much more effective when the minority are CONSISTENT in their responses
- When the minority gave INCONSISTENT answers, they were largely ignored by the majority
What is meant by the term Consistency
If the minority take a consistent approach (not deviating from their view), ppl start to consider the issue more carefully. The minority pushing a coherent & internally consistent view attracts the attention of the majority
2 types: synchronic & diachronic
What is synchronic consistency
They’re all saying the same thing
What is diachronic consistency
They’ve been saying the same thing for some time
What is meant by the term Commitment
When a minority adopts a committed approach to its position it may become difficult to ignore (showing that they are going to extreme, tiring lengths for their cause)
Bc joining a minority has a greater cost for the individual, they need to know the serious nature of the campaign or issue
Augmentation principle - majority pays attention when they see that the minority are desperate/making sacrifices to get their point across - shows dedication
What is meant by the term Flexibility
The minority must negate their position with the majority - compromise to make changes and reach common grounds.
When the minority acknowledge the points of the majority, but above all else, hold firmly to their central beliefs
- Nemeth (1986) stated “consistency can be interpreted negatively”. So minorities must have a balance between consistency & flexibility
When do we listen to minority groups
- When they are consistent & passionate abt something new
- Overtime ppl are converted to the minority. Following the momentum of change (according to the snowball effect) the rate of conversion increases until the minority view becomes the verdict of the majority
Evaluation: Research support for commitment (depth of thought)
Martin et al. (2003) gave participants a message supporting a particular viewpoint & measured their support.
- One group of participants then heard a minority group agree w this initial view, whilst another group heard this from a majority group.
- Participants were exposed to a conflicting view & attitudes were measured again
- Martin et al. found that ppl were less willing to change their ops if they had listened to a minority group rather than if they were shared w a majority group. This suggests that the minority message had been more deeply processed & had a more enduring effect, supporting the central argument abt how the minority influence process works. This suggests that commitment is a contributing factor to minority influence
Evaluation: Research support for consistency
Wood et al . (1994) conducted a meta-analysis of 97 similar studies & found that minorities who were seen as being consistent were most influential. This suggests that consistency is a contributing factor in minority influence
