Social Influence - Minority Influence

Question 1

Explain the minority influence theory

Answer 1

• Situation where one person or a small group of people influences behaviours and beliefs of other people
• Minority groups can be influential if they adopt the appropriate style of behaviour
• Minority influence is most likely to lead to internalisation - public and private behaviours are changed by the process
• Real life examples of minority influence being successful: jury decision making and political campaigning

Question 2

What did Moscovici do?

Answer 2

1985
He identified 3 behavioural styles that minorities must process if they are to exert social influence on majoriities:
1. Consistency
2. Flexibility
3. Commitment

Question 3

Explain behavioural style 1

Answer 3

Consistency
Recognised as the single most important factor for a minority to be influential
* Synchronic consistency: Agreement between people in the minority group
* Diachronic consistency: Minority are consistent in their message overtime. Consistency makes people start to re - think their own views

Question 4

Explain behavioural style 2

Answer 4

Flexibility
* If consistent majority are seen as unflexible, rigid and uncomprimising, they will be unlikely to change views of majority
* However, if they appear flexible, they are likely to be seen as less extreme, more moderate, cooperative and reasonable and they’ll have better chance of changing majority views

Question 5

Explain behavioural style 3

Answer 5

Commitment
* If minority shows that it is dedicated to the issue, conversion may result
* Because minorities have to work harder to get their position across, commitment to their cause or belief must be shown
* Commitment helps gain attention like through extreme activities, which links to the Augmentation Principle

Question 6

Explain the Augmentation Principle

Answer 6

• It is a part of a minority’s commitment to their cause
• If risks are involved in putting forward an arguement, those who express those views are taken more seriously
• If minority members are willing to take consequences for their views, the impact is increased
• Minority groups often risks abuse, media attention, imprisonment or death

Question 7

What is the overall process of minority influence?

Answer 7

The 3 factors make someone think about the minority’s view or cause, it is deeply thought about which is important in the process of conversion.

Question 8

Explain the aim of Moscovici’s study

Answer 8

1969 - The role of a consistent minority: Blue - Green study
To investigate the role of a consistent minority upon the opinions of a majority in a clear ambiguous situation

Question 9

What was the procedure of the blue green study?

Answer 9

• Lab study
• All female participants were first given eyetests to ensure they were not colourblind - told it was an investigation into perception
• Females then placed into a group of 4 participants and 2 confederates
• They were all then shown 36 slides which were clearly different shades of blue and asked to state the colour of each slide out loud
  Condition 1 - 2 confederates answered green for each of the 36 slides, they were consistent in their responses
  Condition 2 - 2 confederates answered green 24 times and blue 12 times, they were inconsistent in their answers

Question 10

What were the findings of the blue green study?

Answer 10

Condition 1: Found that the consistent majority had an impact on the majority 8.2% of the time
Condition 2: Found that the inconsistent minority had an impact on the majority only 1.25% of the time

Question 11

What did Moscovici conclude about his study?

Answer 11

The findings of the study show that consistency is important in minority influence