minority influence Flashcards
(16 cards)
what is minority influence?
a form of social influence where one person or a small group of people (the minority) influences the behaviour/beliefs of the majority
what does minority influence lead to and why?
internalisation because they persuade others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours
internalisation in this context refers to when we agree publicly and privately with the minority view
describe the procedure of Moscovici’s study?
172 ppts were tested to ensure they weren’t colour blind and then in groups of 6 (incl. 2 confeds) they were asked the colour of 36 slides- all were BLUE
what were the 3 conditions of Moscovici’s study?
A; confederates were consistent and called all slides green
B; confederates were inconsistent and called slides green 24 times and blue 12
Control; no confeds present (this was to make sure minority influence was what was leading to different answers of colours)
what did Moscovici find in his blue-green slide study?
control group- only 0.25% reported any green slides
consistent group- ppts answered green 8.42% of the time
inconsistent group- ppts answered green 1.25% of time
what did Moscovici conclude from his study?
minorities can influence majorities
minority influence is strongest when minority is consistent
what are three important factors for effecttive minority influence?
consistency
commitment
flexibility
how is consistency important for minority influence? what are the two types?
it makes sure your message is clear so you do not deviate from the message you give- consistency among the group and over time
- synchronic consistency- whole group consistent with eachother
- diachronic- you stay consistent over time
how is commitment important for minority influence?
you show dedication to your opinion or cause through some form of personal sacrifice (augmentation principle)
what is meant by flexibility for minority influence to be effective?
you listen to other people’s opinions and counter-arguments and are not rigid in your reasoning
balance between commitment and flexibility is essential
what is the research to support for consistency?
Wood et al did a meta-analysis of over 100 studies of minority influence and found consistent minorities were significantly more influential
what is the research to support for internalisation?
Martin et al gave ppts a message supporting a particular view point and measured their support
one group heard minority and one majority, then both a conflicting viewpoint and asked support again
people were less willing to change opinions if they had listened to minority
suggests minority message had been more deeply processed (internalised)
how is research into minority influence using artifical tasks a limitation?
real world situations are more complex- lacks mundane realism so has low real world application
how can it be difficult to asses the effect of the minority?
people may be reluctant to admit their conversion to the minority view
Moscovici found higher agreement with the minority when ppts wrote down colour
limitation as it may be difficult to test minority influence to validify it
how might research into minority influence have limited real-world applications?
studies don’t reflect real life- majority often have much more power and control and minorities are very committed to their causes because they have to face hostile opposition
so research may lack utility
how can we counter-criticise that research into minority influence has limited real-world applications?
society has changed so we know minorities must have had an impact without having power and control
