minority influence

what is minority influence?

situations where one person or a small group of people influences the beliefs and behaviours of other people

which type of conformity is minority influence likely to lead to?

internalisation

what 3 features make minority influence more effective?

• consistency

• commitment

• flexibility

what is consistency?

minority influence is effective provided there is stability in their position over time and an agreement among the minority

what is commitment?

how dedicated the members of a minority are to their cause

what is flexibility?

a willingness to be flexible and to compromise when expressing a position

what year did moscovici carry out his research?

1969

what was the aim of moscovici’s research?

to investigate the process of innovation by looking at how a consistent minority affect the opinions of a larger group

what was the procedure in moscovici’s research?

an all female group of pps were put in a group of majority pps and minority confederates. everyone was shown slides of the colour blue and told to state the colour out loud.

group 1 - confeds were consistent and said green every time

group 2 - confeds said green 24/36 times

how many participants were in the groups of 6?

4

how many slides were shown?

36

what was carried out before the experiment?

an eye test to check that they were not colour blind

what were the findings of moscovici’s research?

consistent group - 8.42% of the trials resulted in minority influence

inconsistent - 1.25% of the trials

what was moscovici’s conclusion?

minorities can change the opinion of the majority, particularly if they are consistent

what are the criticisms of moscovici’s research?

• ecological validity

• lacks mundane realism

• ethical concerns - deception and stress

• consistency is not always sufficient (nemeth et al)

what kind of study was moscovici’s work?

lab study

who found that an unrealistic consistent message will not be accepted by other group members?

nemeth et al

what 3 conditions did nemeth have when replicated moscovici’s study?

• consistent condition - green on every trial

• inconsistent condition - green on half and green-blue on half

• correlated condition - green on brighter slides and green-blue on dimmer

what were the findings of nemeth’s study?

conformity rate of 21% in the correlated condition

no conformity in inconsistent and consistent

what was nemeth et al’s conclusion?

consistency alone is not enough to give conformity

what are the strengths of minority influence?

• RS: Martin - people less willing to chnage opinion if they listened to a minority > majority - suggests minority is deeply processed + enduring - two conditions (min. and maj.) exposed to opposing opinion

• RWA - the variables can show minority groups how to best exert influence - however majority is not only larger, but has more connections + power - techniques not always enough

what are the weaknesses of minority influence?

• (mackie) majority are more likely to create greater message processing as we dismiss minority

• (nemeth) people do not accept dissented views

• reliance on artificial tasks + stimuli in Moscovici’s study - methodology lacks mundane realism - tasks do not reflect the scenarios of real life - lack ecological validity

what are real-life examples of minority influence?

• the suffragettes

• the anti-apartheid movement