Social Influence: Minority Influence Flashcards
Minority influence is…
Form of social influence in which a minority persuades others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours. Leads to internalisation where private attitudes are changed as well as public ones.
Minority influence: Consistency
Being consistent in their argument makes a minority group harder to ignore and it sends a stronger message.
Minority influence: Commitment
‘Argumentation principle’ minorities will engage in extreme activities (risk/self sacrifice) so they’re seen as more genuine and taken more seriously.
Minority influence: Flexibility
Minority groups can’t be too rigid in their argument and must be willing to compromise otherwise it’s off putting to the majority as they’ll think they’re too narrow minded.
The aim of Moscovici et al (1969) study…
To investigate the effects of a consistent majority.
The method of Moscovi et al’s study (1969)…
2 confederates with 4 participants, who were first given colour blind test, shown 36 slides of different shades of blue and asked to state colour out loud. First part of experiment confederates answered green fo all 36 slides. Second part of experiment confederates answered green for 24 and blue for 12 of the slides.
The results of Moscovici et al’s study (1969) were…
Consistant minority had an affect on the majority 8.42%. Inconsistent minority had an affect on the majority 1.25%. 32% of participants judged the slide to be green at least once.
The conclusion of Moscovici et al’s study (1969) is…
Minority’s can influence majority’s but not all the time and only when they behave in certain ways.
Minority Influence evaluation: high control
Uses experimental method so has high control over extraneous variables. Researcher can be more confident it’s the IV which is causing the DV. Strength because we can be confident that results about minority influence aren’t be affected by confounding variables and are internally valid.
Minority influence evaluation: ecological validity
Low ecological validity because the task in Moscovici’s study is not like how minority’s try to change majority’s in real life and the outcomes are more important in real life. Limitation because the findings of minority influence don’t have external validity and can’t tell us how minority influences work in the real world.
Minority influence evaluation: power of minority influences
Effectivement of minority influence may not be very powerful. The figure for agreement with a consistent minority was only 8%. Limitation because it suggests minority influence is not a useful concept.
Minority influence evaluation: real life example
Process of commitment, flexibility and consistency can be seen in real life examples. Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger and her act of defiance drew attention to her view and she began a movement that ended legal racial segregation. Strength of commitment because it shows that engaging in activities with a risk does influence the majority’s view.
