Minority influence

Question 1

What is minority influence?
What it forms? 
Where a ... persuade others to what? 
What this leads to? (2)
THis is where what is changed as well as what?

Answer 1

-It’s a form of social influence in which a minority of people persuade others to adopt their beliefs or behaviours. Leads to internalisation or conversion, in which private attitudes are changed as well as public behaviours.

Question 2

Name the 3 different factors that can enhance the effectiveness of a minority,

Answer 2

1) Consistency
2) Committment
3) Flexibility

Question 3

What conformity is sometimes called?

Answer 3

Majority influence

Question 4

What Minority influence is likely to lead to?

Answer 4

Internalisation

Question 5

Synchronic Minority? Definition

Answer 5

Say the same thing

Question 6

What’s it called when you say the same thing for a long period of time?

Answer 6

Diachronic consistency.

Question 7

Explain the term Consistency
Most what in minority influence?
If you do what in consistency what happens both over time and between all who?
Why its effective? to …. view?

Answer 7

-It is the most effective factor of minority influence, if a minority keeps the same beliefs, both over time and between all the individuals that forms the minority. It’s effective as it draws attention to minority view.

Question 8

Name the 2 types of consistency?

Answer 8

• Synchronic

- Diachronic

Question 9

Explain the term commitment
What is it the most … in .. inluence?
What this demonstrates to their position?
GIve and eg of commitment?
WHy this eg is effective? and what it shows?

Answer 9

-Most Powerful Minority influence, if minority demonstrates dedication to their position eg making personal sacrifices. This is effective shows minoriy is acting out of self-intrest.

Question 10

How Augmentation Principle Relates to Commitment?
… group pay what? to what?
This is due to commitment when you do what?

Answer 10

-Majority group members pay more attention to minority cause due to commitment when you make sacrifices.

Question 11

Explain Flexibility
Name Study
What did he argue? 
What can consistenct be? 
Why is it so bad?
Thus ... influnce is more what? Than what?
What flexibility shows? (2things)

Answer 11

Nemeth 1986 argued relentless consistency could be counter-poductive if seen by majority as dogmatic and unreasonable. Thus minority influence is more effective if minority show flexibility by accepting compromise.

Question 12

Give and Example of Consistency
Name and example
Say where it was consistent?
How they drew attention to what cause?

Answer 12

Sufftagettes, where Consistent in their view and persistently used educational and political arguments to draw attention to female rights.

Question 13

Give and example of Committment that was done in the Suffragettes.
Something about risking?
What this demonstrated? Making what powerful?

Answer 13

Risking imprisonment thus demonstrating a commitment to their cause, making arguments more powerful.

Question 14

Explain the process of change.
Over what? How was it effected?
How people switched from what position to what?
What was increasing?
And what this increase was known as?
When… becomes a … what change occures?

Answer 14

When over time, increasing numbers of people switch from majority position to the minority position. They CONVERT, increasing the rate of conversion. Known as the Snowball effect. When Minority becomes a majority view change occurs

Question 15

Give Example of Process of change is Suffragettes.
What was persuaded over time?
What this lead to? (votes)
What effect occured?

Answer 15

Minority influnce over time persuaded pple consider issue lead to social change for adults (women) to vote. Snowball effect explained gradual socail change.

Question 16

What is the Snowball effect? 
-Processof what state? 
How does it become larger? 
Give and Example (group of pple)?
What it supports? 
More and more ...? Are what?

Answer 16

-Process starts at initial state of small significants increasingly becomes larger. Eg start with small group of pple supporting an idea and gradually more & more pple are supportive

Question 17

1 Evaluation Research that supports Consistency. (Minority influence)
Name a study:
What he found? First in the consistent conditions? Give a Percentage. of the trials.
Give counter point, of the inconsistenct conditions percentage.
What this shows? … minority is (Give percentage) more effective than which moinority?
And what is a more important factor in where?

Answer 17

• Mascovici et al 1969
• He found that in the consistent condition, the real participants agreed on 8.2% of the trials, whereas in the inconsistent condition, the real participants only agreed on 1.25% of the trials. This shows that a consistent minority is 6.95% more effective than an inconsistent minority and that consistency is an important factor in minority influence.

Question 18

2nd Evaluation point for Minority influence LACK of Ecological Validity.
Name a research study:
How can it be criticised? What for?
-Give evidence? EG where was study conducted? What setting? Were the ppts aware of what? What they knew?
Evaluation: Why is this a weakenss?
Beccause of what?
So the results can’t be what? Beyond what? To represent what?

Answer 18

• Moscovici’s research can be criticised for lacking ecological validity.
• Evidence: For example Moscovici’s study is conducted in the artificial setting of a laboratory in which participants are aware that they are being observed and that their behaviour is being recorded. Evaluation: This is a weakness because the investigation isn’t assessing real life minority influence and so the results can’t be generalised beyond the research to represent real-life minority influence.

Question 19

3rd Evaluation point for Minority influence
DECIEVED PPTS and Informed consent.
-Name study:
-What he was critisised for with his ppts?
As the ppts were taking what? In what test?
WHat does this mean? For … consent?
Although it is .. ethical to do what to ppts?
What did his experiment require? to achieve what?
If the ppts knew what? They might have displayed what? And done what differently?

Answer 19

Moscovici has also been criticised for deceiving his participants, as participants were told that they were taking part in a colour perception test. This also means that Moscovici did not gain fully informed consent. Although it is seen as unethical to deceive participants, Moscovici’s experiment required deception in order to achieve valid results. If the participants were aware of the true aim, they might have displayed demand characteristics and acted differently.