Name the 3 key aspects of a minority that is necessary to influence the majority
Consistency
Commitment
Flexibility
Define consistency (Minority Influence)
Diachronic - When a person maintains a consistent position (opinion) over time
Synchronic - Where there is an agreement among members of the minority group
Define commitment (Minority Influence)
Engage in potentially extreme activities to draw attention to their viewpoint - at some risk to the minority group (Augmentation Principle)
Define flexibility (Minority Influence)
Too consistent can seem rigid and dogmatic (1 viewpoint)
Important to adapt their point of view to new information and accept reasonable and valid counter-arguments
Define the snowball effect
- Starts with deeper processing - Occurs when we hear an opinion we haven’t hears before, thus makes us think more deeply about the issue as a result
- 1 member of the majority undergoes deeper processing, changing their opinion to that of the minority, making the majority slowly start to transfer to the minority’s opinions, making the minority the new majority
Name a study done into supporting the consistency theory
Moscovici’s Blue-Green Slide Study
Explain Moscovici’s Blue-Green Slide Study
- 6 participants estimated the colour of 36 slides
- Slides were blue - brightness was changed
- Minority (confederates) constantly said the slides were green and majority began to be influenced and agreed
Name the steps to social change
1) Drawing Attention - Alerting the majority to an issue faced by a minority
2) Consistency - Saying the same message over and over again
3) Deeper Processing - Majority thinking about an issue more deeply
4) Augmentation Principle - Taking risks to get message across
5) Snowball Effect - People from majority join minority view
6) Social Crypto Amnesia - People remember change came about, but can’t remember how, making it easier for the majority to accept the minority view as they don’t associate the change with a minority
