Social Influence - Minority Influence

Question 1

Minority Influence

Answer 1

• Form of social influence in which a minority of people persuade others to adopts their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours
• Most likely to lead to internalisation
• Public + private beliefs/behaviour changed

1. Consistency
2. Commitment
3. Flexibility

Question 2

Moscovici et al - ‘blue-green’ study procedure

Answer 2

• 172 female ppt tested to ensure they weren’t colour blind
• Groups of 6 4 ppt, 2 confederates
• ppt asked to state colour of 36 slides - all slides were different shades of blue
• Condition A: Confederates were consistent and called the slides green on all trials
• Condition B: Confederates were inconsistent and called the slides green 24 times, blue 12 times

Question 3

Moscovici et al - Findings

Answer 3

• Control: 0.25% of ppts reported any green slides
• Consistent: ppt answered ‘green’ in 8.42%, 32% of ppts answered green on at least one slide
• Inconsistent: ppts said green in 1.35% of trials
• Minorities can influence majorities - strongest when minority is consistent in their views

Question 4

Wood et al - consistency

Answer 4

• Meta-analysis of 100 studies similar to Moscovici
• Minorities who were seen as being consistent were most influential

Question 5

Consistency

Answer 5

Minority keeps the same beliefs
Synchronic consistency - individuals in the group are all saying the same thing

Diachronic consistency - have been saying the same thing for a long period of time

Question 6

Commitment - Augmentation principle

Answer 6

• MI more powerful if they demonstrate dedication to their position
• Minorities might engage in extreme activities to draw attention to their views
• Need to be at some risk to minority
• Majority members become in awe of the lengths the minority will go to

Question 7

Fexibility

Answer 7

-Relentless consistency may become ineffective if it is seen by the majority as unbending or unreasonable
- MI more effective if minority show flexibility by accepting possibility of compromise
- Nemeth: members of the minority need to be prepared to adapt their view + accept reasonable + valuable counter-arguments

Question 8

Process of change - snowball effect

Answer 8

• Hear new piece of info from minority - stop + think
• results in deeper processing
• Over time, increasing numbers of people switch from majority to minority
• More it happens, faster rate of conversion
• Minority eventually becomes the majority

Question 9

Limitations of Minority Influence

Answer 9

Artificial Tasks:
- Research is far removed from how minorities attempt to change the behaviour of majorities in real-life
- Outcomes in real-life are more important than choosing the colour of a slide
- Lack ecological validity

Limited real-world application:
- Real-life social influence situations are much more complicated than lab experiments
- Majorities usually have a lot more power, minorities usually more committed