social influence-minority influence and social change Flashcards
what is consistency
consistency is repeating the same message and challenging the beliefs held by the majority
you’ve held this view for a long time
what is commitment
the degree to which members of a minority are dedicated to a particular cause eg-by making sacrifices
what is the augmentation principle
if the minority suffered for their views they seem more committed and are likely to be taken more seriously
what is the role of flexibility
minority must find a balance between being flexible and consistent
if they are flexible they will be perceived as being moderate, cooperative, reasonable and willing to compromise
if they are rigid they will be perceived as dogmatic
how does the minority view become the majority
if you hear something new from a flexible committed and consistent minority you are likely to consider their view and deeper process it
this means more people will convert which leads to higher rates of conversion
what is the snowball effect
the minority initially has a small effect
as the views spread more people consider the issue and agree with the minority
this then reaches a tipping point which leads to wide scale social change
what was moscovici procedure
-172 female participants were were told they were investigating colour perception
-each group had 4 genuine participants and 2 confederates
-each group was shown 36 blue slides with filters that varied the intensity of the colour
-in one condition the minority consistently said the slides were green
-in another condition they said 24 of the slides were green and 12 were blue
evaluate moscovici procedure
-lacks ecological validity/mundane realism-don’t get asked to say what colour slides are on a day to day basis
-lacks population validity-only females
-deception-were told they were studying colour perception actually about minority influence however had he told them they would have displayed demand characteristics which would have made his study lack validity
what are the result of moscovici procedure
consistent minority-8.2
inconsistent minority-1.25
control condition-0.2
what was nemeths procedure
-participants were in groups of 4-3 genuine participants and 1 confederate
-in a simulated jury situation the groups decided how much compensation to pay the victim of a ski-lift accident
-in one condition the confederate argues a low amount and refused to change their position
-in the other condition the confederate compromised a little and moved to a slightly higher amount
what was nemeths findings
-in the first condition where the minority was inflexible they had no effect on the majority
-in the second condition when the minority appeared flexible the majority changed their opinion to a lower amount
-this shows that they should balance consistency and flexibility so they don’t appear rigid
how does nemeths study lack ecological validity
they used 5 jurors instead of 12
what type of experiment did moscovici and nemeth carry out
laboratory experiments
how does edward sampson critisise lab experiments in minority influence
–lab experiments are unable to represent and simulate the wide differences in power and status that often separate minorities and majorities in the real world
-they often face more determined opposition
-they often know each and provide each other with social support whereas in lab experiments they never meet again
what is another factor that influences the persuasiveness of the minority
if the majority IDENTIFIES with the minority then they are more likely to
-take the views of the minority seriously
-change their views in line with those of the minority
what did maass et al find out about minority influence
straight minority arguing for gay rights will have more influence on a
what is social change
the process by which society changes the dominant beliefs attitudes and behaviour to create new social norms
what is minority influence due to
due to ISI-the majority have got to believe the minority are right-they wont conform to be liked
social change is therefore the result of internalisation
how can minority groups bring about social change
minority group can bring about social change by being persuasive in their argument and being organised in there ability to educate other about it
what personality types will be more involved in social change
internal locus of control-they believe for themselves
what are the 3 cognitive processes that cause social change
drawing attention to the issue
cognitive dissonance
deeper processing
how to we draw attention to the issue
if we are exposed to the views of the minority then this draws our attention to the issue
eg-education, protests, militant tactics
what is cognitive dissonance
if the view is different to our own this causes a conflict which we want to reduce
what is deeper processing
as a result of the conflict we feel we begin to examine the new argument more deeply and it encourages us to change our behaviour
what is the snowball effect
the minority initially has a small effect
as the view spreads more people consider the issues and agree with the minority
this then reaches a tipping point which leads to wide scale social change
what is social cryptoamnesia
the minority view is the norm and the majority cannot remember a time before the change
people have a memory that the change has occurred but cannot remember how it happened
what is gradual commitment
once a small instruction has been obeyed it is harder to refuse a bigger instruction
as such people drift into new attitudes and behaviours
what are two ways you can cause social change
-by changing the law which makes certain behaviour a social norm
-dictators can bring about social change through power and obedience. This leads to groups changing their behaviour due to fear of punishments/consequences
what type of process is social change
its a slow and gradual process as it takes time for the majority to examine the minorities arguments
this allows for social cryptoamnesia to occur
