social influence- minority, social change, resistance Flashcards

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1
Q
A
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2
Q

what does resistance to social influence mean?

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refers to the ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or obey authority- influenced by situational and dispositional factors

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3
Q

define social support

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the presence of people who resist pressures to conform or obey can help others to do the same. (acts as models)

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4
Q

define locus of control (LOC)

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refers to the sense we each have about what directs events in our lives. Internals believe they are mostly responsible for what happens to them. Externals believe its a matter of luck or other outside forces

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5
Q

describe social support in obedience

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SS can help resist obedience
Milgram showed that obedience dropped from 65% to 10% when there was a disobedient confederate who disobeyed.
Other person’s disobedience acts as a “model” for the ppt to act and follow their own conscience

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6
Q

describe continuum in terms of LOC

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LOC is a continuum, with high internal LOC at one end (likely to be leaders) and high external LOC at the other end with low levels somewhere in between (act as an agent and shift responsibility onto an individual- susceptible to obedience)

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7
Q

describe resistance to social influence in terms of LOC

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MORE likely to resist with high levels of internal LOC
- greater personal responsibility for actions and experiences-> base decisions on beliefs = resist pressure
- People with internal LOC= self- confidence, achievement-orientated, higher intelligence, less need for social approval

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8
Q

define minority influence

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when one person or a small group of people influences the beliefs and behaviour of other people -> internalisation (changing public and private views)

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9
Q

what are the three main processes involved in minority influence?

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  1. consistency
  2. commitment
  3. flexibility
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10
Q

what are the two types of consistency’? +define

A
  • synchronic consistency= the minority all saying the same thing
  • diachronic consistency= consistency over time

Consistency makes people rethink their own lives

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11
Q

what is ‘commitment’?

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-minorities often engage in extreme activities to draw attention to their lives- especially if they are risky
- For example: “Wow, he must really believe in what he’s saying so perhaps i ought to consider his view
- this is called the augmentation principle

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12
Q

nemeth (1986)

what is ‘flexibility’

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Nemeth (1986) argued that consistency can sometimes be seen negatively- doing things again and again can be seen as rigid + inflexible
- off putting and therefore the minority need to be able to adapt their views and provide valid counter-arguments
- = striking the right balance

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13
Q

how does the process of change occur?

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  • flexibility, commitment and consistency work together
  • people become ‘converted’ to switch from the majority to the minority
  • = SNOWBALL EFFECT
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14
Q

AO3- research support

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P= There is research evidence that demonstrates the importance of consistency
E= Moscovici’s (1969) study showed that a consistent minority opinion had a greater effect on other people than an inconsistent opinion
E= Wood (1994) carried out a meta-analysis of almost 100 similar studies and found that minorities who were seen as being consistent were seen as the most influential
L= This suggests that consistency is a major factor in minority influence

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15
Q

Martin (2003)

AO3- research support (2)

A

P= There is research evidence to show that change to a minority position involves deeper thought.
E= Martin (2003) gave ppts a message supporting a particular viewpoint and measured their support. Ppts heard an endorsement of the view from a minority or from a majority.PPTS were finally exposed to a conflicting view and attitudes to the new conflicting view were measured again.
E= Martin found that people were less willing to change their opinions to the new conflicting view if they had listened to a minority group rather than if they had listened to a majority group.
L= This suggests that the minority message had been more deeply processed and had a more enduring effect.

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16
Q

moscovici

AO3- artificial tasks

A

P= One limitation of minority influence research is that it often involves artificial tasks
E= For example, Moscovici’s task involved identifying the colour of a slide. Research is therefore far removed from how minorities attempt to change the behaviour of majorities in real life.
E= In such cases, as jury decision making and political campaigning, the outcomes are vastly more important , sometimes even literally a matter of life or death.
L= This means findings of minority influence studies such as Moscovici’s are lacking in external validity and are limited in what they can tell us about how minority influence works in real-life situations

17
Q

what is the first step to bringing about social change?

A

Drawing attention
- providing social proof of the problem
- e.g. clear evidence to show that America in the 1950s had black separation
- Attention was drawn through the civil rights marches

18
Q

second step for social change?

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Consistency
- Many people took part in the marches
- activists displaying consistency in their message

19
Q

third step for social change?

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Deeper processing
- Many started to process the issue and began to think about the unjustness

20
Q

fourth step for social change?

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the augementation principle
- Many individuals joined incidents where lives were put at risk

21
Q

fifth step for social change?

A

snowball effect
- civil rights activists e.g. Martin Luther King, continued to campaign and the government paid attention
- in 1964, the civil rights acts was passed= prohibits discrimination
- change from minority to majority

22
Q

sixth step for social change?

A

social cryptomnesia
- people have a memory that change has occured but do not remember how it happened
- the south is diffrerent but many dont know have the memory of how the change occured

23
Q

Nolan (2008)-NSI

AO3- Research support

A

P= There is research support for the role of NSI in bringing about social change
E= Nolan (2008) investigated whether social influence led to a reduction in energy consumption in a community. They hung messages on the front doors of houses in San Diego, California every week for one month>. The key message was that most residents were trying to reduce their energy usage.
E= Nolan found significant decreases in energy uses in this community when compared to a control group who saw messages asking them to save energy but made no references to other people’s behaviour
L= This is a strength because it shows that conformity can lead to social change through the operation of NSI.

24
Q

AO3- minority influence only indirectly effective

A

P= It has been argued that minority influence is only indirectly effective in bringing about social change.
E= Nemeth (1986) argues that the effects of minority influence are likely to be mostly indirect and delayed. For example, it has taken decades for attitudes against drink-driving and smoking to shift. Social change occurs very slowly.
E= The effects sre indirectbecause the majority is influenced on matters only related to the issue at hand, and not the central issue itself. They are delayed because the effects may not be seen for some time.
L= This could be considered as a limitation of using minority influence to explain social change because it shows that its effects are fragile and its role in social influence can be very limited.

25
Q

AO3- role of deeper processing

A

P= the nature of deeper processing in minority influence has been questioned.
E= Moscovici’s conversion explanation argues that minority and majority influence involves different cognitive processes. That is, minority influence causes individuals to think more deeply about an issue than majority influence.
E= Mackie (1987) disagrees and presents evidence that is majority influence that may create deeper processing if you do not share their views. THis is because we like to believe that other people share our views and think in the same ways as us. When we find that a majority believes something different , then we are forced to think long and hard about their arguments and reasoning.
L= THis means that a central element of the process of minority influence has been challenged and may be incorrect, casting doubt on the validity of Moscovici’s study.