Minority Influence Flashcards
(21 cards)
Explain what is minority Influence?
Refers to situations where one person / small group influences the beliefs and behaviours of others
How is different to Conformity?
In conformity, the majority is doing the influencing
Whereas, in minority influence, it is the minority doing the influencing
What is minority influence more likely to lead to?
Internalisation
What are the 3 main processes/behaviours that are used by successful minorities that enable a minority to influence a majority?
- Consistency
- Commitment
- Flexibility
What is meant by the behaviour/ process of consistency?
The minority must be consistent in their views over time which increases the level of interest from others.
It may also make other people rethink their own views
What are the 2 types of consistency?
Synchronic consistency and Diachronic Consistency
Explain what is synchronic consistency and diachronic consistency?
-Synchronic consistency is the consistency between all of the members of the group
-Diachronic consistency is consistency over time
Explain what is meant by the behaviour/ process of commitment?
Refers to the idea that the minority must demonstrate dedication to the cause .
What is meant by determination in the behaviour/ process of commitment?
Could involve engaging in extreme activities and experiencing some personal risk, which is known as the augmentation principle [to enhance/ to increase]
What is meant by the augmentation principle in the behaviour/ process of commitment?
That taking some personal risk or demonstrating some kind of personal sacrifice increases / enhances attention drawn to your view / cause
What is meant by the behaviour/ process of flexibility?
-Minorities need to be flexible and adaptable as well as to listen to the view points of others, so that they don’t come across as dogmatic, rigid and uncompromising as it will shed them in a negative light and will ultimately harm their cause
What is the key to the behaviour/ process of flexibility?
It is important to strike a balance between consistency, commitment and flexibility which are crucial to make a big impact
All 3 of the factors involved in minority influence make people think about the minorities view/ cause: how?
- Hearing something new may make you think deeply about it and doing your own research
- You could start talking about it to their friends and family
Explain the SNOWBALL EFFECT;
The ‘deeper processing’ that make people think about the minorities view / cause which is important in the process of conversion which the more this happens = the faster the rate of conversion
Therefore, the minority view will gradually end up being the majority view which is when change occurs
If the 3 behaviours/processes that make for effective minorities (consistency, commitment and flexibility) are used correctly what does it lead to?
Process of change involving :
- Deeper processing
- Conversion
3.. Snowball effect
Explain the Moscovici et al. (1969) Blue slide - Green slide study:
● 172 Women in groups of 6 were asked to judge colour of 36 blue slides
●The blue varied in intensity
●They were asked to say whether the slides were blue or green
●2 confederates in consistent condition group said that all 36 slides were green
●Moscovici found that participants agreed to the wrong answer on almost 8.4% of trials
●A second group experiences an inconsistent minority and agreement fell to 1.25%
In the inconsistent condition, how many confederates said how many and what the colour of the slides were?
Confederates said 24 of the slides were green and 12 were blue
Evaluate Research into minority by stating a limitation ( Problems with Moscovici’s Research):
- Moscovici used a biased sample of 172 female participants
- Therefore, we are unable to generalise the results to other populations, eg). Male participants, and so cannot conclude that male participants would respond to minority influence in the same way
-Furthermore, research often suggests that females are more likely to conform than males (Neto et.al) due to greater need for social belonging/ approval
- Therefore, further research is required to determine the effect of minority influence on male participants to improve low population validity of this experiment
Evaluate Research into minority by stating a strength (Research support for consistency):
-A strength of research into minority influence is research evidence demonstrating importance of consistency
-Moscovici et al’s blue slide green slide study showed that a consistent minority opinion had greater effect on changing views of other people than inconsistent opinion
-Wood et al. (1994) carried out a meta analysis of almost 100 similar studies and found that minorities who were seen as being consistent were most influential
-This suggests that presenting a consistent view is a minimum requirement for a minority trying to influence a majority
Evaluate Research into minority by stating a Strength ( Research support for deeper processing)
-Another strength is evidence showing that a change in majority’s position does involve deeper processing of minorities ideas
-Martin Et al.(2003) study, participants were presented with a message that supported a particular viewpoint and their agreement to that viewpoint was measured.
The group was then split into 2 - one group heard a minority group agree with the viewpoint.
Another group heard a majority group agree with it. Finally, all were exposed to a conflicting viewpoint. Their attitudes were measured again
- Found that people were less likely / willing to change their opinions if they had listened to a minority group than if they had listened to a majority group
- Suggests that the minority message had been more deeply processed and had more enduring effect, supporting central argument about how minority influence works
Evaluate Research into minority by stating a limitation (Counterpoint to Martin Et al.)
-However, that being said, research studies such as Martin Et al’s, make clear distinctions between majority and minority. Doing this in a controlled way is the strength of minority influence research but in real-world, social influence situations = more complicated
-EG). Majorities usually have a lot more power and status than minorities. Minorities are very committed to their cause- they have to be as they often face very hostile opposition
-These features are usually absent from minority influence research. The minority is simply the smallest group
- Therefore, Martin et al.’s findings are very limited in what they can tell us about minority influence in the real world- cannot replicate
