Minority influence Flashcards
(24 cards)
minority influence =
form of social influence where a minority of people, can be as little as one person, influences the behaviours/ beliefs of a bigger group
key study
Moscovici 1969
ps shown series of blue slides.
groups of 6 - 4 naive ps 2 confederates calling slides green.
3 conditions
1- confederates called slides green consistently
2- confederates called slides green on 2/3
3- confederates called slides blue
Results :
1- consistently green, ps said green on 8.5% of trials
2- 2/3 green, 1.25%
3- blue 0.25%
afterwards ps were told to sort 16 discs into GREEN OR BLUE piles, consistent group put most disks in green pile.
why was moscovici so important?
one of the first studies to show minorities are able to change the opinions of majorities
also ONLY ON FEMALES
moscovici believed minority influence required a personal shift in a private opinion = CONVERSION
whereas conformity required public acceptance of the majority influence.
conversion theory
C onsistency
C ommitment
F lexibility
consistency
minority influence should adopt a consistent approach
makes others reassess the situation and consider the issue deeper
synchronic consistency = between others in the group eg. all saying the same thing
diachronic consistency = consistency over time
moscovici study showing consistency
1969
identifying colour of blue slides task
minority influenced majority claiming slides were green, greater social influence when consistent - saying slides were all green (8.5%), compared to being inconsistent, saying some of them were green (just over 1%)
commitment
difficult to dismiss a minority when it adopts an uncompromising a d committed approach to its beliefs
suggests certainty and confidence in the belief
augmentation principle = risky activities to demonstrate commitment, makes majority pay more attention and reconsider the issue.
eg. hunger strike
flexibility
Nemeth suggests flexibility is more effective at changing minority.
minority groups need to have an element on flexibility to be effective at changing majority view.
IF they are too RIGID, refusing to compromise = seen as DOGMATIC
however being seen as too flexible does the opposite, makes them seem inconsistent, so ineffective.
evaluation of minority influence
:) RESEARCH SUPPORT FOR CONSISTENCY
:( RESEARCH SUGGESTING CONSISTENCY NOT EFFECTIVE
:) RESEARCH SUPPORT FOR CONVERSION
:( RESEARCH LACKS ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY
:) SAMPLE BIAS
RESEARCH SUPPORT FOR CONSISTENCY
Moscovici 1969
found in a task involving identifying the colour of blue slides, the influence of a minority of confederates saying the slides were green was greater when they were consistent, 8% (saying every slide was green) compared to when they were inconsistent, 1.25% (saying slides were green on 2/3 of trials)
strength as supports theory, highlighting importance of consistency in minorities to influence majorities.
RESEARCH SUGGESTING CONSISTENCY NOT EFFECTIVE
ps only said green on 8.5% of trials, therefore even in the consistent condition, minorities are not very influential.
RESEARCH SUPPORT FOR CONVERSION
moscovici variation
ps allowed to write their answer, agreement with minority (GREEN) was greater
suggests conversion can happen privately
strength as supports moscovicis argument that minority influence involves different processes than conformity (public acceptance)
RESEARCH LACKS ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY
research supporting minority influence often uses artificial eg. Moscovici identifying colours of slides.
doesn’t reflect the use of minority influence irl such as jury decisions or campaigning where the outcomes are really important
weakness as findings lac ecological validity, so any theory based on them may also lack validity and generalisability to everyday situations.
SAMPLE BIAS
American females in moscovici
results cannot be generalised to males, other cultures and origins.
weakness as conclusions drawn about minority influence are therefore limited.
the role of social influence processes in social change:
what are the 6 steps for social change through minority influence
- DRAWING ATTENTION to the issue
- members on minority engage in activities to gain publicity
- eg. suffragettes for women’s rights - COGNITIVE CONFLICT
- minority create conflict in the majorities mind between their original belief and the minorities new suggested belief, makes them think deeper - CONSISTENCY
- research has shown that minorities are more influential if sticking to the same arguments overtime and with each other
-eg. suffragettes continuing for years. - AUGMENTATION PRINCIPLE
- if minority appears willing to suffer for the cause, they are seen as more committed and so taken more seriously
- eg. imprisonment and death from hunger strike
eg. EMILY DAVIDSON epsom derby killed by a horse after running onto the track to draw attention to the argument. - SNOWBALL EFFECT
- overtime increasing numbers of people will switch to minority view, becoming converted, the more people the faster, then there is a tipping point where the minority becomes the majority. - SOCIAL CRYPTO-AMNESIA
- acceptance of social change to the point where the old view is forgotten.
KEY EXAMPLE OF MINORITY INFLUENCE =
RECYCLING
- there was a time were no one recycles, it wasn’t considered normal practice
- people who recycled were considered a bit strange
how did they do it?
draw attention - 1960s, universal symbol for recycling created
cognitive conflict - “recycle, everyone else does”
consistency - agreed with each other for many years.
augmentation principle - environmentalists risked getting arrested
the snowball effect - majority accepted in private, then public, then took on the views of the minority until they became majority
social crypto-amnesia - no doubt social change has occurred but many people have no memory of events leading to the change and lack of memory of what not recycling was like.
evacuation of the role of minority influence on social change
:) SUPPORT FOR THE ROLE OF MINORITY INFLUENCE IN SOCIAL CHANGE FROM REAL LIFE EXAMPLES
:( BARRIERS TO SOCIAL CHANGE
:( RESEARCH SUPPORT LACKS ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY
SUPPORT FOR THE ROLE OF MINORITY INFLUENCE IN SOCIAL CHANGE FROM REAL LIFE EXAMPLES
recycling - creating the universal symbol
strength as suggests the explanation of how minority influence can lead to social change has good face validity
BARRIERS TO SOCIAL CHANGE
research shows people are more likely to resist social influence if minorities are viewed negatively eg feminists being labelled man haters
minorities therefore should avoid actions which will cause them to be viewed negatively.
RESEARCH SUPPORT LACS ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY
research supporting minority influence often uses artificial eg. Moscovici identifying colours of slides.
doesn’t reflect the use of minority influence irl such as jury decisions or campaigning where the outcomes are really important
weakness as findings lac ecological validity, so any theory about social change based on them may also lack validity and generalisability to everyday situations.
social change through conformity
behavioural choices are often related to group norms - NSI people behave like everyone else in order to fit in
environmental and health campaigns often exploit conformity processes- appealing to NSI
example of this =
reducing litter with phrase “bin it, others do it”
“most young people do not smoke”
social change is therefore encouraged by drawing attention to what the majority are actually doing.
evaluation of the role of social influence (conformity) processes in social change
:) research support for the role of conformity in social change
Nolan et al 2008
found a greater decrease in energy usage in San Diego when messages said most residents were trying to reduce energy usage than when it just asked people to save energy.
shows how conformity can lead to social influence through NSI
strength as suggests the explanation is valid.
