SOCIAL INFLUENCE - minority influence

Question 1

who performed research into minority influence?

Answer 1

• MOSCOVICI

Question 2

what was MOSCOVICI’s procedure?

Answer 2

• 6 people were asked to view 36 slides that varied in blue intensity and asked them so state whether they were blue or green
• in each group, there were 2 confederates who consistently said they were green on 2/3 of the slides

Question 3

what were MOSCOVICI’s findings?

Answer 3

control. ..
- wrong answer on 0.25% of the trials

consistent minority…

• 32% agreed with the minority at least once
• gave the wrong answer 8.42% of the time

inconsistent minority…
- gave the wrong answer on 1.25% of the trials

Question 4

what are the 3 main processes of minority influence?

Answer 4

• consistency
• commitment
• flexibility

Question 5

how does consistency relate to minority influence?

Answer 5

- consistent across the group 
(synchronic consistency)
- consistent across time
(diachronic consistency)
- makes people rethink their own views

Question 6

how does commitment relate to minority influence?

Answer 6

• people go to extreme lengths to demonstrate commitment

augmentation principle

Question 7

how does flexibility relate to minority influence?

Answer 7

• proposed by NEMETH that by being rigid it may be off-putting to the majority

Question 8

how does minority influence impact the process of change?

Answer 8

• consistency, commitment, and flexibility create a ‘snowball effect’ so people are converted to the minority belief

Question 9

EVALUATION

what did WOOD do? and how does this relate to minority influence?

Answer 9

• carried out a meta-analysis of almost 100 similar studies
• found that consistent minorities were the most influential
  so. ..
• supports the idea that consistency is a key process of minority influence

Question 10

EVALUATION

artificial situations/tasks

Answer 10

• by being artificial in tasks and situations, it reduces the external validity of the studies and thus the theory they are supporting
  so. ..
• limited when explaining what may happen in real-life situations
  (lack of external validity)

Question 11

EVALUATION

limited real-world application

Answer 11

• the research is simplified in reference to minority vs majority
• in real life, there’s more to it than just ‘numbers’, there’s also differences in status
• minorities face hostile opposition
• minorities may be close groups
  so. ..
• reduces the real life-application of the studies and thus the external validity