social influence- minority, social change, resistance

Question 2

what does resistance to social influence mean?

Answer 2

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

Question 3

define social support

Answer 3

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

Question 4

define locus of control (LOC)

Answer 4

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

Question 5

describe social support in obedience

Answer 5

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

Question 6

describe continuum in terms of LOC

Answer 6

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)

Question 7

describe resistance to social influence in terms of LOC

Answer 7

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

Question 8

define minority influence

Answer 8

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

Question 9

what are the three main processes involved in minority influence?

Answer 9

1. consistency
2. commitment
3. flexibility

Question 10

what are the two types of consistency’? +define

Answer 10

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

Consistency makes people rethink their own lives

Question 11

what is ‘commitment’?

Answer 11

-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

Question 12

nemeth (1986)

what is ‘flexibility’

Answer 12

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

Question 13

how does the process of change occur?

Answer 13

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

Question 14

AO3- research support

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Martin (2003)

AO3- research support (2)

Answer 15

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.

Question 16

moscovici

AO3- artificial tasks

Answer 16

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

Question 17

what is the first step to bringing about social change?

Answer 17

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

Question 18

second step for social change?

Answer 18

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

Question 19

third step for social change?

Answer 19

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

Question 20

fourth step for social change?

Answer 20

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

Question 21

fifth step for social change?

Answer 21

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

Question 22

sixth step for social change?

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Nolan (2008)-NSI

AO3- Research support

Answer 23

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.

Question 24

AO3- minority influence only indirectly effective

Answer 24

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.

Question 25

AO3- role of deeper processing

Answer 25

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.