Social Influence - Minority Influence and Resistance to Social Influence

Question 1

What are the 2 major factors contributing to social resistance?

Answer 1

Social support

Locus of Control

Question 2

What is social support?

Answer 2

The belief that your peers agree with you (situational)

Question 3

Define the locus of control

Answer 3

the personality traits related to confidence (dispositional)

Question 4

What is the locus of control scale?

Answer 4

internal or external LOC

Question 5

Define an internal locus of control

Answer 5

belief in your own agency, you are responsible for your own fate

Question 6

Define an external locus of control

Answer 6

belief in external control, not responsible for your own fate

Question 7

What is the relationship between education and locus of control?

Answer 7

A more educated person is more likely to have an internal locus of control because they will have more confidence in themselves

Question 8

How did social support affect Asch’s study?

Answer 8

When the participant had one confederate agreeing with them, then they were 6x less compliant

Question 9

What are the 3 key features of a successful minority influence?

Answer 9

Consistency - groups must have a simple, clear and consistent message

Commitment - this shows confidence and that they are willing to make themselves suffer for the cause

Flexibility - flexible negotiation is far better at persuading than just repeating and not listening

Question 10

Describe Moscovici’s experiment (1969)

Answer 10

Female ppts put in groups of 6, with 2 confederates

Each group shown 36 blue slides with varying shades and were asked what colour it was

confederates lied consistently or inconsistently

Question 11

What were the findings of Moscovici’s experiment ?

Answer 11

Control group -> 0.25%

Inconsistent confederates -> 1.25%

Consistent confederates -> 8.2%

Question 12

What are some issues with Moscovici’s experiment?

Answer 12

Didn’t capture the hardships that minority influences endure

Easy to guess aim of experiment and lacked mundane realism

Gender bias

Question 13

What are the steps for how a minority influence creates a social change?

Answer 13

1. Drawing attention to the cause
2. Consistency of position
3. Deeper processing
4. The augmentation principle
5. The snowball effect
6. Social Cryptomnesia

Question 14

What is the importance of a minority influence drawing attention to their cause?

Answer 14

It creates a cognitive conflict

Question 15

What is the consistency of position in minority influence?

Answer 15

Displaying an unswerving message and intent

Question 16

What is deeper processing in minority influence?

Answer 16

When many people start thinking further about the issue

Question 17

Define the augmentation principle

Answer 17

When minorities take risks to further the cause, showing that they are willing to suffer for it

Question 18

Define the snowball effect

Answer 18

When lots of people switch from a majority position to a minority position

Question 19

Define social cryptomnesia

Answer 19

Some people have a memory that change has occured but some have no memory of the events leading to the change

Question 20

Define the boomerang effect

Answer 20

When a minority influence accidentally causes more majority influence