Minority Influence Flashcards
(12 cards)
What is one strength of the minority influence explanation ?
P - One strength is research supporting consistency
E - Moscovici et al found a consistent minority opinion had a greater effect on other people than an inconsistent opinion. Wood et al conducted a meta-analysis of almost a 100 similar studies and Lund that minorities seen s being consistent were most influential
E - This confirms that consistency is a major factor in minority influence
What is another strength of the minority of influence explanation ?
P - Another strength is research showing role of deeper processing
E - Martin et al gave participants a message supporting a particular viewpoint , and measured attitudes. The they heard an endorsement of view from either a minority or a majority. Finally heard a conflicting view , attitudes measured again. Participants were less willing to change their opinions to the new conflicting view if they had listened to a minority group than if they listened to a majority group.
E - This suggests that the minority message had been more deeply processed and had a more enduring effect
What is a limitation of the minority of influence explanation ?
P - One limitation is minority influence research often involved artificial tasks
E -
What is another strength of the minority influence explanation ?
P - One strength is the power of minority influence
E - More participants agreed with the minority when writing their answered privately. So those who do go public must be the ‘top of the ice berg’ and hold heir own views strongly (internalisation)
E - Therefore minority influence is valid - it is a relatively unusual form of social influence but can change people’s views powerfully and permanently (conversion)
What is minority influence ?
Refers to how one person or small group influences the beliefs and behaviour of other people..
The minority may influence just one person , or a group of people (the majority) - this is different from conformity where the majority does the influencing.
Why is consistency needed for minority influence ?
Consistency :
Means the minority’s view gains more interest
Consistency makes others rethink their own views.
Synchronic consistency - people in the minority are al saying the same thing
Diachronic consistency - they’ve been saying the sesame thing for some time
Why is commitment needed for minority influence ?
Commitment :
Helps gain attention. Activities must create some risk to the minority to demonstrate commitment to the cause
Augmentation principle - majority pay even more attention to
Why is flexibility needed for minority influence ?
Flexibility :
The minority should balance consistency and flexibility so they don’t appear rigid
What was the procedures of Moscovici’s study ?
Procedure - A group of 6 people (4 participants and 2 confederates). Viewed 36 blue—coloured slides of varying intensities. They were asked to state whether the slides were blue or green.
In one condition , both confederates consistently said the slides were green.
In another condition , the confederates were inconsistent.
The procedure was repeated with a control group
What were the findings of Moscovici’s study ?
Consistent minority : participants gave the same wrong answer (green) on 8.42% of trials
Inconsistent minority : agreement fell to 1.25%
Control group : wrongly identified colour just 0.25% of the time
What is the snowball effect ?
Snowball effect : over time , more people become ‘converted’ , there is a switch from the minority to the majority
The more this happens , the faster the rate of conversion
Gradually the minority view becomes the majority and social change has occurred.
What is social cryptomnesia ?
This is where the minority view point becomes the dominant position in society , and people do not remember how the change occurred.
