Minority Influence

Question 1

Define minority influence

Answer 1

A form of social influence where members of the majority group change their beliefs or behaviours because of the minority influencing their decision, this usually leads to internalisation. The minority must be consistent, show commitment and be flexible in their behaviour.

Question 2

What are the 3 factors affecting minority influence?

Answer 2

1) Consistency
2) Commitment
3) Flexibility

Question 3

AO1: Minority influence

Answer 3

1) Consistency: If the minority keep repeating the same beliefs to the majority, both over time (diachronic synchrony) and between all individuals that form the minority (synchronic consistency), the majority then reassess the situation and consider the minority idea more carefully.

2) Commitment: This suggests the minority must show dedication and make personal sacrifices when facing a majority. Some minorities engage in quite extreme activities to draw attention to their views. If these activities present some risk to the minority, this shows greater commitment. Majority groups may then pay even more attention. This is known as the augmentation principle.

3) Flexibility: Too much consistency can be seen as dogmatic and rigid and may stop the majority moving over to the minority viewpoint. Members of the minority need to be prepared to adapt their point of view and accept reasonable counterarguments. The key is to strike a balance between consistency and flexibility.

Question 4

What are the evaluations for minority influence? (3)

Answer 4

1) RTS consistency - Moscovici et al - blue and green slides
2) Lacks mundane realism
3) RTS flexibility - Nemeth and Brilmayer - mock jury

Question 5

AO3: RTS consistency

Answer 5

Research to support consistency from a minority influence was conducted by Moscovici et al. Two confederates sat with a majority group of six participants, they were shown blue slides that differed in intensity and had to state the colour. When the minority consistently called the blue slides green, participants gave the same wrong answer 8% of the time; however, when the minority group inconsistently called the blue slides green, agreement fell to 1%. This supports the idea that consistency of a minority is important in influencing a majority, to change their view. Therefore, increasing the validity of consistency in minority influence.

Question 6

RTS: Lacks mundane realism

Answer 6

The research by Moscovici to support the role of consistency in minority influence lacks mundane realism, as it used an unrealistic task of stating the colour of a slide. Therefore, it is difficult to generalise the findings to explain how minorities attempt to change the behaviour of majorities in real life social situations where the outcomes are more important, for example a minority may be less influential in a jury setting when deciding upon a verdict for a serious crime – which could be potentially life threatening. Thus, lowering the external validity of the research into minority influence.

Question 7

RTS Flexibility

Answer 7

Research to support flexibility comes from Nemeth and Brilmayer who created a mock jury situation to decide on the amount of compensation to be paid to someone involved in a ski-lift accident. When a confederate put forward an alternative point of view and refused to change his position, this had no effect on other group members. However, a confederate who compromised did have an influence on the rest of the group. Therefore, as the confederate was flexible in his opinion, he was able to change majority opinion. This supports that flexibility is an important feature of minority influence as it increases the influence the minority had over the majority. Therefore, increasing the validity of flexibility in minority influence.