social influence: minority influence Flashcards
define minority influnce
a form of social influence where a minority persuades others to adopt their beliefs > This involves changing beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors.
What are the three potential outcomes of minority influence?
Internalisation, identification, compliance
Internalisation is the most common outcome.
What are the 3 key factors that helps minority influence succeed?
Consistency
commitment
flexibility
Consistency involves repeating the same message to challenge majority beliefs.
define consistency
Consistency is repeating the same message, challenging the beliefs held by the majority
What are the two types of consistency in minority influence?
Synchronic: refers to all members saying the same thing
diachronic: refers to them saying the same thing over time.
What does commitment in minority influence demonstrate?
Dedication to their belief > This often involves making sacrifices to show they are not acting out of self-interest.
How does flexibility contribute to minority influence?
By adapting and accepting valid counterarguments > this increases their likeability and the likelihood of changing their own minds.
What happens when people hear something new from a minority group?
They might think more deeply about it > the deeper processing is crucial for conversion to a minority viewpoint.
What is the term for the phenomenon where increasing numbers switch from majority to minority positions?
Snowball effect > this occurs when people are converted to the minority view
Fill in the blank: The process of conversion leads to the minority view becoming the _______.
Majority view
This transformation occurs gradually as more individuals adopt the minority perspective.
AO3: research to support consistency
There is research to support consistency as a factor influencing minority influence
Moscovici found that when the minority were consistent in saying all 36 slides were green 8.42% of the participants said the slides were green. While when the minority were not consistent only 1.25% said the slides were green.
STRENGTH as this suggests that a consistent minority is essential for minority influence to occur
AO3: research to support flexibility
There is research to support flexibility
Nemeth investigated the idea of flexibility in which participants, in groups of four, had to agree on the amount of compensation they would give to a victim of a ski-lift accident.
He found that when the minority argued for a low rate of compensation and refused to change his position, the minority had little or no effect on the majority. But when the minority argued for a low rate of compensation but compromised by offering a slightly higher rate of compensation, the majority was much more likely to compromise and change their view.
STRENGTH as Nemeth’s research highlights the importance of flexibility but questions the idea of consistency
AO3: artificial task
Research supporting minority influence is based on artificial tasks
These tasks are very different from the real life influence of the minority, which often involves questioning and changing your own values and
beliefs which occurs at a much deeper level than the processes of choosing the colour of a slide.
EG: members of women’s rights, gay rights and animal rights organizations, members of pressure groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth are very different from participants in laboratory experiments. They operate in different settings with different constraints.
They often face much more determined opposition. and are far more committed to a cause; they often know each other, provide each other with considerable social support and sometimes devote their lives to changing the views of the majority.
WEAKNESS as research into minority influence cannot be used to explain real life examples of minority influence
AO3: real life evidence
real life evidence from the suffragettes.
Suffragettes had a non-stop approach in a bid for women’s rights, this lasted 15 years with constant rallying and protesting.
They were also flexible: they lessened their protesting during WW1 in order to help with the war effort and their fight for the vote continued even when faced with imprisonment or death by hunger strike. As a result others were more likely to take their views seriously because of the commitment they showed acceptance of the suffragette position was gradual, suggesting a ‘snowball effect’ in political opinion. Eventually social change was brought about and equality for women created.
STRENGTH as research into minority influence can be reflected to real life therefore increasing its external validity
AO3: evidence for deeper processing
There is evidence showing that minority influence does involve deeper processing of the minority’s ideas
Martin et al presented a message supporting a particular viewpoint and measured participants agreement. One group of participants then heard a minority group agree with the initial view while another group hears a majority group agree with it. Participants were finally exposed to a conflicting view and attitudes were measured again.
People were less willing to change their opinions if they had listened to a minority group than if they had listened to a majority group.
STRENGTH as this suggests that the minority message had been more deeply processed and had a more enduring effect, supporting the central argument about how minority influence works.
