Social Influence: Minority Influence Flashcards
what’s minority influence?
a form of social influence in which a minority of people persuade others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes and behaviours. it leads to internalisation or conversion in which private attitudes are changed as well as public behaviour
what’s consistency?
minority influence is the most effective if the minority keeps the same beliefs, both over time (diachronic synchrony) and between all the individuals that form the minority (sychronic consistency). it’s effective because it draws attention to the minority views.
what’s commitment?
minority influence is most effective if the minority demonstrates dedications to their positions, for example making personal sacrifices. this is effective because it shows the minority is not acting out of self-interest.
what’s flexibility?
relentness consistency could be counter-productive if it is seen by the majority as unbending and unreasonable. therefore the minority influence is more effective if the minority show flexibility by accepting possibility of compromise.
what’s the process of change?
the snowball effect is over time, increasing numbers of people switch from the majority position to the minoritu position. they become converted. the more this happens, the faster the rate of conversion. gradually the minority view becomes the majority view and change occurs.
what was Moscovici’s study?
he demonstrated minority influence where a group of 6 were asked to view 36 blue-coloured slides that varied from intensity and were asked to state whether the slides were blue or green. 2 confederates said the slides were green 2/3 of the time. the participants gave the same wrong answer on 8.42% of trials, 32% gave same answer as minority. when exposed to an inconsistent minority, agreement fell to 1.25%.
what’s Nemeth’s research into flexibility?
particpants in groups of 4 (1 confederate), agreed on the amount of compensation they would give a victim in a ski-lift accident. condition 1: minority argued low compensation and refused to change his view. condition 2: minority compromised slightly higher rate (flexible). in condition 1, the minority had little effect but in condition 2, the majority was much more likely to compromise
what’s research support for consistency? (A03)
Wood carried out a meta-analysis of almost 100 similar studies to Moscovici and found that minorities who were seen as being consistent were the most influential. this suggests consistency is a major factor of minority influence.
what’s research support for depth of thought? (A03)
evidence to show change to a minority position involves deeper processing of ideas. Martin gave participants a message supporting a particular viewpoint and measured their support. 1 group heard the minority agree with the viewpoint and the other heard the majority’s views. participants were exposed to a conflicting view. He found people were less willing to change their opinions if they listened to the minority. this suggests the minority’s message had been more deeply processed and had a more enduring effect.
how are artificial tasks a limitation?
the tasks involved (identifying slides) are as artificial as Asch’s line study. research is far removed from how minorities attempt to change behaviour of majority in real life. in cases like jury decision and political campaigning, the outcome is much more important. the findings of these studies lack external validity and are limited.
