Social Influence

What are the four types of social influence?

- conformity
- minorty influence
- obedience
- Independant behaviour

What are the three types of conformity?

1. Compliance
2. Identification
3. Internalisation

What is Compliance as a type of conformity?

- short term change in public behaviour with no change of private beliefs

What is Identification as a type of conformity?

- temporary change in both public behaviour and private belief in relation to a reference group

What is Internalisation as a type of conformity?

- Permanent change in both public behaviour and private beliefs/opinion

Conformity

A change in a persons behaviour or opinions as a result of imagined pressure from a person or group of people

Informational social influence (ISI)

Agreeing with the majority because we believe they are more likely to be right (cognitive)

- leads to a permanent change in behaviour (internalisation)
- most likely to happen in new situations, or where there is some ambiguity
- also occurs in crisis situations where we assume someone else is more likely to be right

Normative social influence (NSI)

Agreeing with the majority because you want to be liked or fit in (emotional)

- leads to temporary change in opinions/behaviour (compliance)
- likely to occur with strangers where you are concerned about rejection
- or in situations with people we know as we are most concerned of the social approval of our friends
- maybe more common in stressful situation where people have a greater need for social support

EVAL explanations for conformity - research support for NSI (Asch)

P - one strength is evidence to support NSI as an explanation
E - when Asch interviewed his ppts after experiment, they said they felt self conscious giving the correct answer (afraid of disapproval)
E - when they wrote their answers down, conformity fell to 12.5% as there was no normative group pressure
L - suggests that some conformity is due to a desire not to be rejected by the group for disagreeing

EVAL explanations for conformity - research support for ISI (Lucas)

P - one strength is evidence to support ISI as an explanation
E - Lucas found that ppts conformed more often when they were given difficult maths tasks as the situation became more ambiguous they didn't want to be won't so relied on other answers they were given
L - this shows that ISI is a valid explanation of conformity because these are the results that ISI would predict

EVAL explanations for conformity - research support for ISI counterpoint

P - it is often unclear whether NSI or ISI is at work in research studies
E - for example Asch found that conformity reduced reduced when there was another dissenting ppt, this may reduce the power of NSI (because they provide social support) or may reduce the power of ISI (because they provide an alternative source of information.
L - therefore, its hard to separate ISI and NSI, they probably operate together in most real-life situations

EVAL explanations for conformity - individual differences in NSI

P - one limitation is that NSI does not predict conformity in every case
E - some people are greatly concerned with being liked by others (nAffiliators) - Teevan (1967) found that students who were nAffiliators were more likely to conform
L - this shows that NSI underlies conformity for some people more than it odes others.

What was the aim of Asch's Study?

To see to what extent people will conform to the opinions of others

Give an outline of the baseline procedure for Asch's study

- 123 American men in groups of 5-7 confederates
- they were shown two white cards and asked to match line x with a line on the other card
- one line was clearly the same size and one was clearly wrong
- participants were made to speak out their answer, confederates sometimes gave the wrong answer

What were the three IVs Asch investigated

- group size - he increased the group size from one to 15
- unanimity - he introduced a confederate who disagreed with the other confederates
- task difficulty - he increased the similarity of the lines in the task

What were the results and findings of each of the variables in Asch's study

BASELINE - conformed 37% of the time
GROUP SIZE - increase up to a point where conformity levelled off, this suggests that most people are very sensitive to the views of others
UNANIMITY - conformity rate dropped even when the dissenter disagreed with the ppt, this suggests that influence of majority depends largely on it being unanimous
TASK DIFFICULTY - conformity increased (ISI) as the task became more ambiguous and right answer is less clear

EVAL Asch's study - artificial situation and task

P - one limitation is the task and situation were artificial
E - It was carried out in a lab making demand characteristics possible as they knew that what they were being tested on was quite trivial/artificial
E - Asch's groups did not resemble groups you oiled come across in everyday life
L - this means that findings do not generalise to real-world situations. Low population and ecological validity.

EVAL Asch's study - high internal validity

P - one strength is his investigation has validity.
E - this is because it was carried out in a lab environment meaning all extraneous variables could be controlled.
E - The participants were also blind to any other controlled conditions that varied between trials.
L - this means his task has high internal validity as there are reduced demand characteristics and it's performed in a highly controlled environment

EVAL Asch's study - research support (Lucas 2006)

P - one strength is support from other studies for the effects of task difficulty
E - Lucas (2006) asked ppts to answer 'easy' and 'hard' maths problems. The ppts conformed more often when the problems were harder
L - this shows Asch was correct in claiming that task difficulty is one variable that effects conformity

EVAL Asch's study - research support counterpoint (Lucas 2006)

P - Lucas found that conformity was more complex than Asch suggested
E - he found that ppts with high confidence in their maths ability conformed less on hard tasks than those with low confidence
L - this shows that an individual-level factor can influence conformity by interacting with situational variables - Asch didn't investigate individual factors.

EVAL Asch's study - ethical issues

P - one limitation is the ethical issues his study created
E - the ppts were deceived because they thought the other people involved were other genuine ppts not confederates
L - although the ppt were deceived this was an ethical cost that needed to be made in order to benefit from the study

Unanimity

The extent to which all the members of a group agree. In Asch's studies, the majority was unanimous when all the confederates selected the same comparison line.

Group size

Asch increased the size of the group by adding more confederates, thus increasing the size of the majority. Conformity increased with group size, but only up to a point, levelling off when the majority was greater than three.

Task difficulty

Asch's line-judging task is more difficult when it becomes harder to work out the correct answer. Conformity increases because naive participants assume that the majority is more likely to be right.

Give the basic procedure for Zimbardo's prison experiment

- set up a mock prison in the basement of Standford university psychology department
- 21 emotionally stable students were randoly allocated to roles of prisoners and guards in a mock prison
- the social roles were inforced with uniiforms and instructions about behaviour

Describe SPE uniforms and the effect they had

- the prisoners were given a loose smock and a cap to cover their hair, they were identified by number
- the guards had their own uniform reflecting the status of their role, with a wooden club, handcuffs and mirror shades

The uniforms created a loss of personal identity, meaning they would be more likely to conform to the social role.

What instructions were the ppts given about their behaviour in the SPE

The prisoners were made to 'apply for parole' if they wanted to leave early, and the guards were reminded repeatedly they had complete control over the prisoners to reinforce their role.

Social roles

Parts people play as members of social groups. (Parent,child,teacher)
- these are accompanied by expectations about what is appropriate behaviour for each role

What were the findings of the SPE

- The guards treated the prisoners harshly and harassed them constantly, reminding them of the powerlessness of their role
- within 2 days the prisoners rebelled but failed and they became more depressed. Study dropped after 6 days
- one prisoner was released because e showed sings of psychological disturbance, one prisoner went on hunger strike
- Zimbardo ended the study after 6 days instead of 14

What was the conclusion of the SPE

- that social roles have a strong influence on behaviour - brutal guards and submissive prisoners
- Social roles can be very easily adopted

EVAL Zimbardo's research - control

P - one strength is that he had control over extraneous variables
E - he randomly assigned the roles to the ppts, ruling out individual differences in the findings
L - this degree of control increased the internal validity of the study

EVAL Zimbardo's research - lack of realism (Movahedi 1975)

P - one limitation is that it didn't have the realism of a true prison
E - Movahedi argued the ppts were acting rather than genuinely conforming to the role, they based their behaviours on stereotypes already developed (this would explain why they rioted)
L - this suggests that the findings tell us little about conformity to social roles in actual prisons, the finding have low ecological validity

EVAL Zimbardo's research - lack of realism counterpoint (McDermott 2019)

P - the counterpoint to the lack of realism is that McDermott argued they did behave as if the prison was real
E - 90% of prisoners conversations were about prison life, they discussed how it was impossible to leave the SPE before their 'sentences were up'
L - this suggests that the SPE did replicate the social roles of prisoners and guards in real prisons, providing high internal validity

EVAL Zimbardo's research - exaggerates the power of roles

P - one limitation is that Zimbardo may have exaggerated the power of social roles to influence behaviour
E - only 1/3 of guards actually behaved in a brutal manor. 1/3 tried to apply the rules fairly. Most of the guards were able to resist to situational pressures and sympathised with the patients
L - suggests that Zimbardo overstated his view that is ppts were conforming to social roles

Obedience

A form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order. The person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority, who has the power to punish when obedient behaviour is not forthcoming.

Situational variables

Features of the immediate physical environment that may influence a participants behaviour

After Milgram's baseline study, he carried out further investigation considering situational variables that may effect obedience.

Proximity

The physical closeness of the authority figure and the person they are giving the order to.

In Milgram's study, the teacher could hear the learner but not see him. In the proximity variation, the teacher and the learner were in the same room. - The obedience rate dropped from 65% to 40%

In the remote instruction variation, the experimenter left the room and gave instructions over the phone. Obedience reduced to 20% and ppts frequently pretended to give shocks.

Explain why proximity has an effect on obedience

Decreased proximity allows people to psychologically distance themselves from the consequences of their actions.
- in Milgram's study, when the teacher and the learner were physically separated they were less aware of the harm they were causing

Location

The place where the order is issued

In Milgram's study, he created a variation in a run-down office block rather than the university. In this location obedience fell to 47.5% in comparison with the baseline study.

Explain why location had an effect on obedience in Milgram's study

Being held at Yale university, gave the initial study legitimacy and authority. Ppts were more obedient here becasue they perceived the experimenter shared this authority.

However, the obedience was still high in the office block because the ppts perceives the scientific nature of the procedure

Uniform

What the authority figure is wearing, required to wear

In Milgram's baseline study, the experimenter wore a grey lab coat (this symbolised his authority)

In one variation the experimenter was called away for a phone call and the role was taken over by 'a random member of the public' in everyday clothes. Obedience dropped to 20%.

Explain why uniform had an effect on obedience in Milgram's study

Uniforms encourage obedience because they are recognised as 'symbols of authority'. We expect that their authority is legitimate.
- someone without a uniform has less right to expect our obedience

Who carried out research on obedience?

Milgram

Describe Milgram's baseline study

- 40 American men volunteered, they were given the role of teacher through a fixed draw
- ordered to give increasingly strong (fake) shocks to learner (confederate) by an experimenter
- shocks increased by 15v for every wrong answer, up to 450v

What were the findings of Milgram's study

- no participants stopped before 300v
- 12.5% stopped at 300v
- 65% went all the way to 450v
- only 3% said they would obey previous to the experiment

Milgram also collected qualitative data (observations)
- the ppts showed signs of extreme tension
- seen sweating, trembling, biting their lips, groaning
- full blown uncontrollable seizures

What three variations did Milgram investigate after the baseline study

- PROXIMITY - experimenter and teacher (obedience decreases further away)
- PROXIMITY - teacher and learner (obedience decreased closer)
- UNIFORM - ordinary clothes Vs lab coat (obedience decreases without uniform)

EVAL Milgram's baseline study - research support (Beauvois)

P - one strength is that the findings were replicated in a French documentary made about reality TV
E - this documentary focussed on a game show. The ppts believed they were contestants in a pilot episode, they were paid to give (fake) electric shocks (ordered by the presenter) to other ppts.
- 80% delivered the maximum shock of 460v, their behaviour was almost identical to that seen in MIlgram's study
L - this supports Milgram's original findings about obedience to authority, increases validity of results

EVAL Milgram's baseline study - low internal validity (Holland)

P - one limitation is that Milgram's procedure may not have been testing what it intended to test
E - Milgram reported that 75% of ppts believed the shocks were real. Holland (1968) argued the ppts didn't believe the set up and were play acting.
E - demand characteristics may have aslo been introduced becasue the ppts were aware they were involved in a study.
L - this suggests that the ppts may have been responding to demand characteristics, trying to fulfill the aims of the study. This decreases the internal validity of the experiment.

EVAL Milgram's baseline study - low internal validity counterpoint (King 1972)

P - King (1972) conducted a second study confirming the results of Milgram's study
E - ppts gave real shocks to a puppy in response to orders. Despite the real stress of the puppy, 54% of the men an 100% of the women gave what they thought was a fatal shock.
L - this suggests that the effects in Milgram's study were genuine because people behaved obediently even when the shocks were real

EVAL Milgram's baseline study - high internal validity

P - one strength is that the study has high internal validity
E - all procedures were carried out in a controlled environment within the university, this means all extraneous variables could be controlled
L - this increases the internal validity as it was easier to ensure the study was measuring what was intended

However, demand characteristics may have been introduced as the ppts were aware they were taking part in a study

EVAL Milgram's baseline study - ethical issues

P - one limitation is that the study has raised several ethical issues
E - The ppts were deceived, they thought that the allocation of the roles was random and that the shocks were real.
L - this means that there are ethical issues with the procedure but Milgram dealt with this by debriefing all ppts

EVAL Milgram's situational variables - research support for uniform (Bickmen 1974)

P - one strength is other studies have demonstrated the influence of situational variables on obedience
E - in a field experiment in NY, Bickemen (1974) had three confederates dress in three outfits (jacket and tie, a milkman's outfit, and security guards uniform). They asked passer's by to perform tasks like picking up litter.
- people were twice as likely to obey security guard than jacket and tie
L - this supports the view that a situational variable does have a powerful effect on obedience

EVAL Milgram's situational variables - cross-cultural replications

P - one strength is that Milgram's research has findings that have been replicated in other cultures
E - a more realistic procedure was used on Dutch ppts, they were ordered to say stressful things in an interview to someone desperate for a job. 90% of ppts obeyed.
E - the proximity findings were also replicated, when the person giving the orders was not present, obedience decreased
L - suggests that Milgram's findings about obedience are not just limited to American's or men but are valid across cultures and genders

EVAL Milgram's situational variables - low internal validity (Holland 1968)

P - one limitation is that it's may have been aware the procedure was faked
E - Holland pointed this out with the baseline study but it is even more likely with the situational variables because of the extra manipulation of variables. Some of the situations were so unbelievable that Milgram recognised some ppts may work out the truth
L - therefore, in all of Milgram's studies its unclear whether the findings are genuine or because of demand characteristics

agentic state

We fail to take responsibility because we believe we are acting on behalf of an authority figure ('just following orders')

autonomous state

We feel free of other influences and so take personal responsibility for our actions.

agentic shift

We switch from autonomous to agent because we perceive someone else is an authority figure to be obeyed.
- the authority figure has greater power because they have a higher position in social hierarchy

what helps us to maintain in an agentic state (give three examples)

Binding factors (or buffers) maintain us in agentic state - they allow us to minimise or ignore the damaging effect of our behaviour (reduce moral strain)
- fear of appearing rude
- gradual commitment
- contractual 'obligation'

describe buffers (give an example)

reduce the impact of your actions, e.g., removing the moral strain or not seeing the destructive effect
\= the wall in Milgram's study (can't see the consequences of your actions)

Legitimacy of authority

We are more likely to obey people who we perceive have authority over us. The authority is justified by the individuals position of power within a social hierarchy.

What are the consequences of legitimacy of authority

- some people are granted the power to punish others
- we must be willing to give up some of our independence to people we trust to exercise authority appropriately

We learn the acceptance of legitimate authority from childhood, from parents then teachers and adults in general

However, this can become destructive
- charismatic and powerful leaders (Hitler) use their legitimate authority for destructive purposes

EVAL agentic state - research support Milgram

P - one strength is that Milgram's studies support the role of agentic state in obedience
E - many of the participants asked the researcher who was responsible if any harm came to the learner, the researcher responded with 'I'm responsible', after this many participants carried on due to the removal of the moral strain and agentic shift
L - this shows that once ppts perceived they were no longer responsible for their own behaviour, they obeyed more easily

EVAL agentic state - limited explanation (Rank & Jacobson 1977)

P - one limitation is that agentic shift doesn't explain many findings about obedience
E - Rank & Jacobson found 16/18 nurses disobeyed doctors orders to administer an excessive drug dose to a patient. The doctor was an obvious authority figure but the nurses remained autonomous.
L - this suggests that the genetic shift can only account for some situations of obedience

EVAL agentic state - real world application police battalion 101

P - one limitation is police battalion 101 as a real world example
E - in WW2, the battalion shot many civilians in a small town in Poland, despite not having direct orders to do so. They acted autonomously
L - this shows that there is no need for an order for them to act recklessly

EVAL legitimacy of authority - cultural differences

P - one strength is that it is a useful account of cultural differences in obedience
E - only 16% of Australian Women went all the way up to 450V
- 85% of German Women went all the way to 450V
L - this reflect the way that different societies are structured and how children are raised to respond differently to authority figures

EVAL legitimacy of authority - not a full explanation for obedience (Rank & Jacobson)

P - one limitation is that it cannot explain all instances of disobedience in a hierarchy where the legitimacy is clear and accepted
E - Rank & Jacobson's nurses were disobedient despite recognising the experimenters scientific authority

EVAL legitimacy of authority - real-world crimes of obedience (Hamilton)

P - one strength is that there is real-world application of obedience in a hierarchy
E - people higher up in the hierarchy have the power to punish and order the other people/soldiers
- they have legitimate authority
L - suggests that when ordered by someone over a higher position in society agentic shift occurs

Resistance to social influence

Refers to the ability of people to withstand the social pressure to conform to the majority or to obey authority. This ability to withstand social pressure is influenced by both situational and dispositional factors.

social support

the presence of other people who resist the pressures to conform or obey can help others to do the same (these people act as role models)

Locus of control (Rotter 1966)

Rotter proposed locus of control \= internal Vs external control

Internal LOC \= things are largely in our control, we are responsible
External LOC \= things are largely out of our control, not responsible, luck and fate

LOC is a continuum as individuals vary in their position on it.

Describe the relationship between locus of control and resistance to social influence

High internal LOC \= more able to resist octal pressures to conform or obey, tend to base their opinions and actions on own beliefs as they have responsibility
- they also tend to be more self confident, achievement orientated, higher intelligence

dispositional factors

individual personality characteristics that affect a person's behavior

Authoritarian personality (Milgram & Adorno)

a type of person especially susceptible to obeying people of authority.
- a psychodynamic theory that a high level of obedience was a psychological disorder that lies in the persons personality rather than in the situation

How can an authoritarian personality originate in someone? (Adorno)

- strict parenting/conditional love as a child
(later leaves child wanting to please authority)

- these childhood experiences create resentment which is displaced onto others who they perceive to be weaker. They cannot display their resentment to their parents due to fear of punishment.

Describe scapegoating as part of the authoritarian personality

Negative childhood experiences create resentment and hostility
- they cannot express these feelings onto their parents due to a fear of punishment
- instead they displace the feelings onto others who they perceive as weaker

This explains hatred towards people considered to be socially inferior or who belong to other social groups.

What did Adorno argue about authoritarian personality and obedience?

He argued that people with authoritarian personality...
- show an extreme respect for authority (submissive)
- view society as 'weaker', so believe we need powerful leaders to enforce traditional values (love of country/family)
- show contempt for those of inferior social status
- everything is either right or wrong, inflexible look on world

These characteristics make people more likely to obey orders from a source of authority, even when orders are destructive (Nazi germany)

Adorno et al (1950) - procedure

Studied over 2000 middle-class white Americans and their unconscious attitudes to racial groups.

Researchers developed several measurement scales, including:
- 'potential-for-fascism scale' (F-scale)

Adorno et al (1950) - Findings

•People who scored highly on the F-scale were conscious of their own status and only showed high levels of respect for those of higher status. They had fixed and distinctive stereotypes about other groups.
•Adorno also found a strong positive correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice.

EVAL authoritarian personality - research support (Elms & Milgram 1966)

P - one strength is evidence from Milgram supporting the authoritarian personality
E - he interviewed a small sample of ppts from the original obedience studies and been fully obedient. They all completed f-scale. They all scored higher than a control group of disobedient ppts. The two groups were quite different in terms of authoritarianism.
L - supports Adorno's view that obedient people may well show similar characteristics to people who have a authoritarian personality

EVAL authoritarian personality - limited explanation

P - one limitation is authoritarianism cannot explain obedient behaviour in the majority of a countries population
E - for example, in pre-war Germany, millions of individuals displayed obedient and anti-Semitic behaviour, despite the fact they must have differed in personality. It is unlikely they all possessed the authoritarian personality
E - an alternative view is that the majority of the German people identified with anti-Semitic Nazi state, and scapegoated the 'outgroup' of Jews
L - therefore, Adorno's theory is limited because an alternative explanation is much more realistic

EVAL authoritarian personality - political bias

P - one limitation is that the f-scale only measures the tendency towards an extreme form of right-wing ideology
E - it was argued that the f-scale is a politically based interpretation of authoritarian personality. Emphasises the importance of complete obedience to political authority
L - this mean Adorno's theory doesn't account for obedience to authority across the whole political spectrum

EVAL authoritarian personality - aquiescence bias

the tendency for a person to respond to any questionnaire or interview with agreement regardless of the context

P - this is a limitation of the authoritarian personality
E - it is possible to get a score by selecting 'agree' answers
L - this means response bias has reduced the validity of f-scale as evidence for the correlation between authoritarian personality and obedience

Resisting conformity

- can resist if there are other people present who are not conforming (seen in Asch's line task)
- the fact someone else is not following the majority is social support, the confederate acted as a model of independent behaviour
- resistance occurs because the majority is no longer unanimous

Resisting obedience

- can be resisted if there is another person who is seen to disobey
- in a variation of Milgram's study obedience dropped from 65% to 10% when the genuine ppt was joined by a disobedient confederate
- the confederates disobedience acts as a model of dissent for the ppt to copy
- the disobedience challenges the legitimacy of the authority figure, making it easier for others to disobey

EVAL social support - real world research support

P - one strength is evidence for the positive effects of social support
E - American pregnant adolescents aged 14-19 had to resist pressure to smoke. They were given social support by a buddy. At the end of the programme, ppts with a buddy were significantly led likely to smoke.
L - this shows that social support can help you resist social influence in the real world

EVAL - social support - research support for dissenting peers

P - one strength is research evidence to support the role of peers in resisting obedience.
E - in one of Milgram's variations, he found that obedience dropped from 65% to 10% when the genuine ppt was joined by a disobedient confederate.
L - this shows that social support can lead to disobedience by undermining the legitimacy of an authority figure

EVAL locus of control - research support (Holland 1967)

P - one strength is research evidence for the link between LOC and resistance to obedience
E - Holland repeated Milgram's baseline study and measured whether ppts were internal or externals. Found that 37% of internals did not continue but only 23% of externals did not continue.
L - this shows that resistance is at least partly related to LOC, which increases the validity of an explanation.

EVAL locus of control - contradictory evidence (Twenge 2004)

P - one limitation is evidence that challenges the link between LOC and resistance
E - Twenge analysed data from American LOC studies. This showed that over 40 years people became more resistant to obedience but also more external.
L - suggests that locus of control is not a valid explanation of how people resist social influence (the correlations dont match up with predictions

Minority Influence (Moscovici)

the case where a minority of group members influences the behavior or beliefs of the majority
- leads to internalisation where attitudes and behaviours change

First studied by Moscovici using his blue slide, Green slide task

Once enough people are 'converted' it can lead to the snowball effect as the minority becomes the majority

what are the three components to Minority Influence?

- consistency
- flexibility
- Commitment

Consistency (minority influence)

most effective if the minority keeps the same views, its effective because draws attention to the minority opinion.

- a consistent minority makes other people start to rethink their own views (deeper processing)

Commitment (minority influence)

Most powerful when minority demonstrates dedication to their position, shows the minoritiy is not acting out of self interest

- the minority could engage in extreme activities to demonstrate commitment. Majority groups then pay more attention. This is called augmentation principle

Flexibility (minority influence)

Relentless consistency could be counter-productive if it is seen by the majority as unbending and unreasonable. Therefore minority influence is more effective if the minority show flexibility by accepting the possibility of compromise.

Provide and explain one piece of research support for Consistency

MOSCOVOCI
- inconsistent condition, confederates said a blue card was green 24/36
- consistent condition, confederate said a blue card was green 36/36
RESULTS 8% Vs 1%

Provide and exaplain one piece of research support for Flexibility

NEMETH
- ski accident compensation
- confederate argued for a lower sum of money but flexed off a bit more in one condition
- flexible confederates convinced the majority to conform

Give an example of the process of minority influence and each of the stages that are required

Draw attention - civil rights marches.
Consistency - presented consistent message and intent.
Deeper processing - others think more deeply about issue.
Augmentation principle - taking risks (freedom riders).
Snowball effect - minority grows to become majority.
Social cryptomnesia - people forget source of change.

What do minorities do to inflict social influence on others?

ISI - show arguments and evidence of a solvable problem, convince people to follow on
Consistency - draws attention to the belief
Flexibility - shows minorities are able to compromise
Augmentation Principle - shows commitment to cause

EVAL minority influence - research support for consistency (Moscovici, Wood)

P - one strength is research evidence demonstrating the importance of consistency
E - Moscovici blue/green slide study showed a consistent minority option had a greater effect in changing views than an inconsistent opinion.
E - Wood completed a meta-analysis of almost 100 studies and found minorities being consistent were most influential
L - suggests that presenting a consistent view is a minimum requirement for a minority trying to influence the majority

EVAL minority influence - research support for deeper processing (Martin 2003)

P - one strength is evidence showing that a change in the majority's position does involve deep processing of minority ideas
E - Martin presented a message supporting a certain viewpoint and measured ppts agreement. One heard a minority group agree with it, one heard a majority group agree. They then heard a conflicting view and their attitudes were measured again.
E - people were less willing to change their opinions if they had listened to a minority than if they had listened to a majority group
L - suggests the minority message had been more deeply processed and had a more enduring effect, supporting central argument about how minority influence works.

EVAL minority influence - artificial tasks

P - one limitation is that the tasks involved in research are very artificial
E - Moscovici's card task was very simple and far removed from how minorities in real life. In many cases minority influence can result in life or death (jury decisions)
L - means the findings of minority influence studies are lacking in external validity and so limited in what they can tell us about minority influence in real life situations