Majority Influence Flashcards
What is Majority Influence?
Majority influence is a type of social influence when an individual/small group changes their beliefs or behaviours to correspond to those of a larger group. It is the basis of conformity.
What are the factors that affect Majority Influence?
1) Situational factors - Depend on the situation.
2) Dispositional factors - The person is pre-disposed to behave this way due to factors the person brings to the situation.
What do Situational Factors include?
1) Ambiguity of the situation - People are more likely to conform in cases where there is no obvious answer; when the situation is ambiguous.
2) Unanimity of the group - People are more likely to conform when the opinion of the majority is consistent and unanimous.
3) Group size - The larger the size of the majority, the more influential it is likely to be.
4) Social support - If the minority has some support it is less likely to conform to the majority.
5) Social role - When there is considerable pressure to conform to social roles.
What to Dispositional Factors include?
1) Gender - Women have been found to be generally more compliant. This may be explained by differences in sex roles and/or gender biased research.
2) Culture - Significant variations have been found in different cultures. One explanation for this is the emphasis on individual’s responsibility and well-being vs priority of group’s needs and values in individualist and collectivist societies.
3) Personality - Research has found personality to play a part in conformity; e.g. people with low self esteem tend to conform more because they fear rejection from a group.
