MINORITY INFLUENCE

Question 1

• what is meant by minority influence
• how does this differ from conformity

Answer 1

• social influence form where persuasive minority changes behaviours and attitudes of the majority
• often leads to internalisation
• in conformity, the majority influences the minority
• often leads to compliance

Question 2

Outline Moscovici’s aims and procedure

Answer 2

• to see if a consistent minority could influence a majority into giving an incorrect answer
  BLUE-GREEN EXPERIMENT:
• 127 female ppts given colour-blind test
• placed in groups with 4 ppts, 2 confederates (con = minority)
• 36 slides of shades of blue
• ppts to state, out loud, whether it was blue or green
  CONDITION 1 - consistent confederates, stating “green” on every trial
  CONDITION 2 - inconsistent confederate, “green” 24 times, “blue” 12 times

Question 3

Outline Moscovici’s findings

Answer 3

• with a consistent minority, ppts gave wrong answer on 8.42% of trials
• with an inconsistent minority, ppts gave wrong answer on 1.25% of trials
• in control group, ppts gave wrong answer on 0.25% of trials

Question 4

What 3 factors influence the effectiveness of a minority

Answer 4

• consistency
• commitment
• flexibility

Question 5

What is the difference between synchronic and diachronic consistency

Answer 5

Diachronic = all people in the minority saying the same thing over a LONG TIME PERIOD

Question 6

• how does consistency affect effectiveness of minority influence
• outline an example

Answer 6

• keeping same beliefs results in others re-thinking their views
• can lead to internalisation
• SUFFRAGETTE MOVEMENT
• hard, peaceful work led to the majority’s acceptance of their view

Question 7

How does commitment affect the effectiveness of minority influence

Answer 7

• dedication shown when minority partakes in activities with high risk
• extreme activities cause the majority to pay attention to the cause
• called “the augmentation principle”

Question 8

How does flexibility affect the effectiveness of minority influence

Answer 8

• persuasive minority’s require flexibility
• rigid minorities appear “dogmatic” and less effective

Question 9

Outline Nemeth’s aim and experiment

Answer 9

• investigated the idea of flexibility
• ppts to agree of amount of compensation to give to a victim
  CONDITION 1- minority was inflexible in their suggestion for the amount compensation
  CONDITION 2 - minority compromised/showed flexibility for their suggestion for the amount of compensation

Question 10

Outline Nemeth’s findings and conclusion

Answer 10

• inflexible minority had little to no effect on majority
• flexible minority resulted in the majority being much more likely to change their view
• showed importance of minority not appearing dogmatic, but instead maintaining flexibility regarding their views

Question 11

Outline research support for consistency
- include Wendy Wood

Answer 11

• Moscvici’s blue green experiment
• showed if minority remains consistent, they will have a greater effect on the majority (8.42% of trials compared to 1.25%)
• Wendy Wood conducted meta-analysis of too similar studies ad confirmed the findings

Question 12

What did Moscovici suggest about the power of minority influence
- privacy

Answer 12

• Moscovici et al found that when pots wrote down answers privately, they were more likely to agree with the minority view
• suggests that the view in public was just “tip of the iceberg”

Question 13

Outline a limitation of research into into minority influence
- artificial tasks

Answer 13

• artificial tasks often used, e.g. Moscovici’s blue-green task
• research therefore doesn’t allow an insight on how minority influence works in real life
• in real-life, outcomes are more important, meaning whether or not a view changes is a lot more important
• studies often lack external validity, so are limited

Question 14

Outline research support for deeper processing
- Robin Martin

Answer 14

• Robin Martin et al showed a group a viewpoint that a minority group agreed with
• another group showed a viewpoint that aa majority group agreed with
• ppts exposed to a conflicting view and had their attitudes measured
• ppts less willing to change views if they heard a minority group agree
• suggests that messages from minority lead to deeper processing/enduring effects
• supports main idea for how MI works

Question 15

Outline a limitation for deeper processing
- Robin Martin’s research

Answer 15

• real world situations are more complicated than situations in research studies
• minorities often have less power in society
• must be committed to face hostile opposition
• in research, they are simplified into being the smallest group
• therefore, Martin et al’s findings are limited