Minority influence

Question 1

Define minority influence

Answer 1

refers to when a person or a small group of people influence the beliefs and behaviours of other people.

Most likely to lead to internalisation- both public and private beliefs are changed.

Question 2

Moscovici’s study to support minority influence

Answer 2

Group of six people were asked to view a set of 36 blue coloured slides that varied in intensity and then state whether the slides were blue or green. Each group had 2 confederates who consistently said that the slides were green in 2/3 of the trial. He found that the ppts gave the wrong answer on 8.42% of the trials, 32% gave the same answer as the minority.

2nd group of ppts were exposed to an inconsistent minority and the agreement fell to 1.25%.

Control group had no confederates and ppts got the colour wrong on juts 0.25% of the trials

Question 3

Conclusion of moscovici study

Answer 3

A minority must be consistent in its viewpoint if it is going to influence the opinions of a majority.

Question 4

Define consistency

Answer 4

Minority most effective if they keep the same beliefs both over time and between all individuals that form the minority.

Question 5

2 types of consistency and what it leads to

Answer 5

Synchronic consistency- all saying the same thing

diachronic consistency-saying same thing for a long time

Such consistency leads to people rethinking their views

Question 6

Define commitment

Answer 6

Minority influential is most powerful if the minority demonstrates dedication to their position by making personal sacrifices. It shows people that they are not acting out of self interest

Question 7

Augmentation principle

Answer 7

Draws attention from the majority by taking part in extreme activities to demonstrate their commitment. This draws attention from the majority to the minority group

Question 8

Flexibility

Answer 8

Nemeth argued that being extremely consistent and repeating the same argument again and again can be seen as inflexible so it is off-putting to the majority and unlikely to influence them. He argues that instead the minority need to be prepared to adapt their point of view and accept valid counter arguments.

Question 9

The process of change (snowball effect)

Answer 9

All 3 factors lead to deeper processing and over time, increasing numbers of people switch from majority view to the minority view and have become converted. The more this happens the faster the rate of conversion. Called snowball effect as gradually the minority become the majority and change has occurred