9 - Minority Influence

Question 1

What is minority influence?

Answer 1

Form of social influence in which one person/small group (the minority) influences others to adopt their beliefs/attitudes/behaviours

Question 2

What 3 aspects allow minorities to be influential?

Answer 2

• Consistency
• Commitment
• Flexibility

Question 3

What type of conformity does minority influence lead to?

Answer 3

Internalisation (permanent change in private beliefs)

Question 4

What explanation for conformity can be used for minority influence? Why?

Answer 4

Informational Social Influence (ISI)

• Individuals must conform to the minority belief because they think they are right
• Cannot be due to NSI, as minority often disapproved by the public (don’t fit the norm)

Question 5

When an individual changes their belief to fit the minority, we say they have undergone what?

Answer 5

Conversion

Question 6

Why does consistency help minority influence?

Answer 6

Consistency increases interest in the minority’s opinion, as many people are offering this alternative opinion over an extended time period, causing people to question their own beliefs (deeper thinking)

Question 7

What are the two types of consistency?

Answer 7

• Synchronic consistency

- Diachronic consistency

Question 8

What is synchronic consistency?

Answer 8

People in minority all saying same thing

Question 9

What is diachronic consistency?

Answer 9

People in minority keep saying their opinion for a long time

Question 10

Why does commitment help minority influence?

Answer 10

Commitment increases interest in the minority’s opinion, as they are willing to take risks/make personal sacrifices to demonstrate their beliefs (showing how dedicated they are and how their opinion isn’t selfish), causing people to question their own beliefs (deeper thinking)

Question 11

What is the augmentation principle? What aspect of minority influence is this part of?

Answer 11

Majority pay more attention to minority, augmenting (increasing) the strength of the minority opinion, when they see the minority persisting with their opinion despite personal constraints

• Part of ‘commitment’

Question 12

Who said that flexibility was important in minority influence? When?

Answer 12

Nemeth (1986)

Question 13

What two aspects of minority influence must be balanced for social influence to occur?

Answer 13

• Consistency

- Flexibility

Question 14

Why does flexibility help minority influence?

Answer 14

Flexibility prevents a decrease of interest in the minority’s opinion that may occur as a result of too much consistency, as minority are proven to not be too rigid + unreasonable

Question 15

Why can too much consistency (without any flexibility) limit the effectiveness of minority influence?

Answer 15

Majority are off put by the rigid minority relentlessly churning out the same arguments (a reasonable minority should be accept reasonable counter-arguments and adapt)

Question 16

Outline the process of minority influence

Answer 16

• Minority show: consistency, commitment, some flexibility
• Majority undergo deeper processing (questioning own beliefs)
• Internalisation of minority beliefs + conversion may occur
• If many of minority experience this, snowball effect may occur

Question 17

What is the snowball effect?

Answer 17

Minority becomes majority, as many people are converted at a faster + faster rate

Question 18

What happens if many people undergo minority influence?

Answer 18

Snowball effect + social change

Question 19

Who did key research to support the theory of minority influence? What? When?

Answer 19

Moscovici et al

• Blue-green tile experiment
• 1969

Question 20

Does conformity of minority influence involve deeper processing?

Answer 20

Minority influence

Going against the norm, so have to deeply process + ensure minority opinion is believed to be right in order to covert

Question 21

Outline Moscovici et al’s 1969 study

Answer 21

Aim:
To investigate minority influence + effect of consistent minority
Procedure:
- 172 female, non-colour blind ppts
- Ppts asked to state colour of 36 blue tiles varying in brightness, in groups
- Condition 1: Group = 4 ppts + 2 confed (consistently said tiles green)
- Condition 2: Group = 4 ppts + 2 confed (inconsistently said tiles green)
- Condition 3: Group = 6 ppts + 0 confed (control)
Findings:
- Consistent minority (1): Ppts gave wrong answer 8.4% times (32% ppts gave at least one wrong answer)
- Inconsistent minority (2): Ppts gave wrong answer 1.25% times
- Control group (3): Ppts gave wrong answer 0.25% times
Conclusion:
Minorities have potential to influence majorities when aspects (e.g. consistency) are present

Question 22

Give 2 positive evaluation points for minority influence as a form of social influence

Answer 22

Research support for power of a consistent minority

• Moscovici et al (1969)
• Wood et al (1994) did meta-analysis of 100 similar studies that repeatedly found influential power of a consistent minority

Research support for deeper processing
- Martin et al (2003)

Question 23

Give 1 negative evaluation point for minority influence as a form of social influence

Answer 23

Research support has low external validity

• Lack of consequences that are present if choose to convert to minority opinion in real life
• Don’t reflex the complex social dynamics of real life, in which there is no clearly distinguished minority and majority
• Therefore, generalisability is low due to lack of mundane realism

BUT - Minority influence must play a role, even if its not entirely the role lab research suggests, because minorities can lead to larger scale influence - social change, e.g. Suffragetes

Question 24

What is believed to be the most important aspect of minority influence?

Answer 24

Consistency

Question 25

Who did research to support the idea that deeper processing is involved in minority influence?

Answer 25

Martin et al (2003)

Question 26

Outline Martin et al’s 2003 study

Answer 26

Aim: To investigate the role of deeper processing in minority influence
Procedure:
- Ppts given message supporting a viewpoint
- Initial attitudes measured
- Condition 1: Heard message endorsed by MINORITY group
- Condition 2: Heard message endorsed by MAJORITY group
- Ppts given message refuting viewpoint
- Final attitudes measured
Findings:
- Condition 1 (minority endorsement) less willing to change opinion
Conclusion:
An opinion is longer lasting after minority influence, suggesting it is processed more deeply causing profound internalisation

Question 27

What is the most important aspect that helps minorities influence majorities?

Answer 27

Consistency