Minority influence

what is minority influence?

situation where one person is able to influence the beliefs and behaviours of a much larger group

how is minority influence distinct from conformity?

as in conformity it is the majority doing the influencing

what type of conformity is minority influence most likely to lead to?

internalisation - to convince people that they are right

what are the 3 factors affecting minority influence?

• consistency

• commitment

• flexibility

why does the minority influence need to be consistent?

at first most people assume a minority is wrong

but if consistent it may cause the majority to reasses their postion - assume that their is reason why the minority are sufficently confident to maintain their point of view

why does the minority influence need to be committed?

• difficult to dismiss a minority that is committed to its viewpoint

• as it suggest a degree of certainty, confidence and courage in the face of a majority

• degree of commitment is much greater in minority than majority

why does a majority have to be flexible?

• the most effectivemethod of changing majority opinion

• minorites often negotiate their position rather than trying to enforce it due to minority being powerless compared to majority

what is a rigid negotiation?

are viewed as dogmatic (not true)

what happens if you are overly flexible in negotiations?

run the risk of being viewed as inconsistent

what are the evaluation points for minority influence?

• research support for consistency and commitment

• research for flexibility

• useful application

what is research support for consistency and commitment?

Moscovivi et al

what was the procedure in Moscovici et al?

• sample of 172 female participants told they were taking part in a colour perception task

• they were placed in groups of 6 and shown 36 slides (all shades of blue) and were asked if the slides were blue or green

• in each group there were 2 confederates who consistenly said the slides were green on 2/3 of the trials

what were the results of Moscovici et al?

participants gave the wrong answer on 8.2% trials

32% gave the same wrong answer as the minority on at least one trial

in moscovivci what was the procedure and result for the second group?

were exposed to an inconsistent minority and agreement fell to 1.25 % of trials

in moscovici what was the third group and what were the results?

control group - no confederates and all participants had to was identify the colour of each slide

they got this wrong on 0.25% of trials

what is research support for flexibility?

Nemeth and Brilmayer

what did Nemth and Brilmayer do?

tested flexibility in a simulated jury situation where they had to discuss compensation for a ski-lift accident

what did Nemeth and Brilmayer find about Rigid and compromising viewpoints?

no percieved effect on other participants but compromising viewpoint change group opinion slightly

only evident when flexibility was shown later on

what conclusions can be made from Nemeth and Brilmayer?

flexibility too early can be seen as undermining consistency and commitment - therefore these may needed first to draw attention to the issue…then flexibility

how do minority influence have useful application?

• causes us to search for new information, consider more options, make better decisions and be more creative

• this is the case even when minority is wrong