4.1.1 Moscovici et al - Minority Influence

Question 1

when was moscovici et al studie conducted

Answer 1

1969

Question 2

what was the official name of moscovici et al’s studie

Answer 2

Minority influence

Question 3

What was the aim of Moscovici

Answer 3

To investigate the effects of a consistent minority on a majority

Question 4

What was the method used to carry out Moscovici et al

Answer 4

192 female partipants separated in groups of six with two confederates per group of six.

The groups where asked to judge the colour of the slides. All slides where blue however the brightness varied.

The confederates where in some groups consistently saying all 36 slides where green while in other groups claiming only have 24 where green.

A control group was used with no confederates

Question 5

What where the results of moscovici et al

Answer 5

control group - green 0.25%

Consistent group - green 8.4% - 32% called the slides green at least once.

Inconsistent group - green 1.25%

Question 6

What was the conclusion of moscovici

Answer 6

The confederates where in the minority however their views influenced the majority

The more consistent group had more influence in the majority

Question 7

What are some negative evaluations of moscovici et al

Answer 7

• Lacked ecological validity as it was a laboratory experiment and the task were artificial
• The participants may have felt that judging the colour of the slides was a trivial exercise and they may have acted differently if their principles were involved
• The results cannot be generalised as only women participated

Question 8

What are some positive evaluations for moscovici et al

Answer 8

• As there was a control group, we know that the participants were actually influenced by the minority rather than being independently unsure of the colour of the slides
• In a similar experiment, participants were asked to write down the colour rather than saying it out loud. In this conclusion, even more people agreed with the minority, which provides more support for minority influence.

Question 9

What are the characteristics needed for a minority group to influence social change

Answer 9

Consistent
Committed
Flexible

Question 10

Why is consistency important for achieving social change

Answer 10

If people are consistently talking about the same issue then they will be more consider the issue

Question 11

Why is commitment so important in brining social change

Answer 11

When a minority adopts a committed approach to its position it may become difficult to ignore because joining a minority has a greater cost for the individual, they need to know the serious nature of the campaign or issue

Question 12

Why is flexibility so important in brining about social change

Answer 12

Some people believe that consistency can be interpreted negatively by some and therefore being flexible with their position benefited their cause

Question 13

Why is deeper processing so important in changing the minds of majority

Answer 13

People where less willing to change their view point having heard the view of a minority group than they where having heard the view of a majority group

Question 14

What is some research support for depth of thought

Answer 14

In a study participants where spit into two groups where some heard the viewpoint of the minority and others heard the view point of the majority but both views where the same. Their support was measured

They then heard a conflicting viewpoint and their support was measured again. They where less willing to change having heard the minority view point than majority.

This suggests there is more depth of thought from listening to a minority compared to listening to a majority

Question 15

What is some supporting evidence that internalisation can cause support of minority to increase

Answer 15

A study found in private more people would agree with a minority and even those who originally supported the majority where convinced by the minority

People where reluctant in public to admit this through not wanting to seem awkward or like and outsider

Question 16

What is the snowball effect in social change

Answer 16

The snowball effect is idea that as a group begins to convince more people and pick up momentum until it becomes the majority

Question 17

What is some research support for flexibility

Answer 17

Moscovici’s study was repeated but participants could call a colour blue green. The varied response slightly effected the participants but inconsistency had no effect

Question 18

Research support for consistency

Answer 18

Meta analysis of 97 similar studies found most influence minority’s where consistent

Question 19

What are the conditions necessary for social change

Answer 19

• Drawing attention to an issue which opposes the majority position through social proof
• Deeper processing of the issue means we examine the minority position more deeply and those who accepted the status quo begin to think about the unjustness of it
• The augmentation principle if there are risks associated with putting forward the oint of view then the views are taken more seriously
• The snow ball effect minority view catches momentum and becomes a majority view goes from privately acceptance to public expression
• social cryptomnesia people have the memory that social change occurred but cannot remember how it happened

Question 20

What is some evidence which dose not support deeper thinking

Answer 20

disagreed and presented evidence that it is majority influence that creates deeper processing, if we do not share their views.

• We like to believe other people share our view and think in the same way as us.
• If the majority think differently, we are forced to think about their argument and reasoning.