15 - minority influence ao1

Question 1

what is minority influence?

Answer 1

when a minority changes the attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of a majority (social influence)

Question 2

what are the three factors that can enhance the effectiveness of minority influence?

Answer 2

consistency, commitment and flexibility

Question 3

who investigated minority influence in a colour perception task?

Answer 3

moscovici

Question 4

what was moscovici’s sample? (number and gender)

Answer 4

172 females

Question 5

how many participants were in each group in moscovici’s study

Answer 5

6

Question 6

what type of conformity is minority influence most likely to lead to?

Answer 6

internalisation

Question 7

how many slides were moscovici’s participants shown?

Answer 7

36

Question 8

what colours were the slides in moscovici’s study

Answer 8

varying shades of blue

Question 9

what was moscovici’s task for each participant

Answer 9

state out loud the colour of each slide

Question 10

how many of the six participants in moscovici’s study were confederates

Answer 10

two

Question 11

what were moscovici’s two conditions?

Answer 11

consistent (said all 36 slides were green) and inconsistent (24 were green and 12 were blue)

Question 12

in moscovici’s consistent condition, the real participants agreed on what percent of the trials?

Answer 12

8.2%

Question 13

in moscovici’s inconsistent condition, the real participants agreed on what percent of the trials?

Answer 13

1.25%

Question 14

moscovici’s study shows that a consistent minority is what percent more effective than an inconsistent minority?

Answer 14

6.95%

Question 15

what does moscovici’s study show about consistency in minority influence?

Answer 15

consistency is an important factor in minority influence

Question 16

what fraction of the participants judged moscovici’s slides to be green at least once?

Answer 16

1/3

Question 17

what does research suggest about flexibility during minority influence

Answer 17

minorities require a degree of flexibility to remain persuasive, rigid and dogmatic minorities are less effective

Question 18

who investigated the idea of flexibility?

Answer 18

nemeth

Question 19

what was nemeth’s task?

Answer 19

groups of 4 participants had to agree on the amount of compensation they would give to a victim of a ski lift accident

Question 20

how many people in each of nemeth’s group was a confederate?

Answer 20

one

Question 21

what were the two conditions in nemeth’s study?

Answer 21

1. when the minority argued for a low rate of compensation and refused to change his position
2. when the minority argued for a low rate of compensation but compromised by offering a slightly higher rate of compensation (flexible)

Question 22

what did nemeth find in each condition?

Answer 22

inflexible = minority had little or no effect on the majority
flexible = majority was much more likely to compromise and change their view

Question 23

what does nemeth’s research highlight the importance of and what does it question?

Answer 23

flexibility, but questions the idea of consistency (moscovici)

Question 24

what is the augmentation principle?

Answer 24

if minorities show their dedication to the cause through sacrifice, making their influence more powerful

Question 25

what is group membership in terms of minority influence leading to social change?

Answer 25

when the minority is similar to the majority and so more likely to be influential

Question 26

who investigated group membership?

Answer 26

maass et al

Question 27

how did maass et al show group membership through straight men?

Answer 27

found that a minority of heterosexual men were more likely to convince a heterosexual majority about gay rights, in comparison to a minority of homosexual people

Question 28

define consistency and how it can influence the majority

Answer 28

group maintains the same point of view, others may start to rethink their own views

Question 29

what are the two ways that minority influence is consistent?

Answer 29

synchronic (saying same thing) and diachronic (saying same thing for some time)

Question 30

define commitment and how it can influence the majority

Answer 30

minorities take part in extreme activities that demonstrate their pledge to the cause, leading people to question their own views (augmentation principle)

Question 31

define flexibility and how it can influence the majority

Answer 31

members of the minority adopt and accept valid counter arguments, increases their like ability and the chance of them changing their own minds

Question 32

what is the snowball effect?

Answer 32

over time, increasing numbers of people switch from the majority to the minority position (converted) as they gather more people. the more this happens, the faster the rate of conversion