Social Influence- Minority Influence and Social Change Flashcards
What is minority influence?
Small minorities or individuals gain influence and change the way the majority thinks
What type of conformity takes place in minority influence?
Internalisation, members of the majority actually take on the beliefs and views of a consistent minority
What was Moscovici’s experiment?
- Laboratory experiment into minority influence using 192 women
- Groups of 6 at a time, judged colours of 36 slides
- All slides were blue, brightness varied
- 2 of 6 in a group were confederates
- One condition, confederates called all slides green
- Other condition, confederates called 24 slides green and 12 slides blue
- One control group with no confederates
What were the results from Moscovici’s experiment?
- Control group, participants called slides green 0.25% of the time
- Consistent condition, 8.4% called slides green all the time, 32% called slides green at least once
- Inconsistent condition, 1.25% called slides green
What was the conclusion from Moscovici’s study?
Minority had more influence when they were consistent
What does CCF stand for?
Commitment, consistency and flexibility
What is majority influence?
People compare their behaviour to the majority and change their behaviour to fit in without considering the majority’s views in detail
What type of conformity is involved in majority influence?
Compliance as it doesn’t always cause people to change their private feelings, just their behaviour
Why can minority views be seen as wrong?
Because they don’t match up with what’s considered as the norm
How does CCF help the minority group?
Shows they have a clear view which they are committed to and is willing to compromise
How does CCF create a conflict?
Have to seriously consider whether minority might be right and if you should change your view (validation process)
What factors are involved in social impact theory?
Strength, numbers and immediacy
What are the processes in social change
Drawing attention, consistency, deeper processing, augmentation principle, snowball effect, social cryptomnesia
