evidence to support minority influence

• Moscovici (1969)- aim- to investigate the role of consistency in minority influence, procedure- 32 groups of 6 pps (all women and 4 real and 2 confederates) shown 36 clue slides of varying brightness. Consistent condition confederates answered green on all.
• Moscovici continued- inconsistent condition answered green 24 and blue 12. Findings- consistent condition pps agreed on 8.2% of the trials, inconsistent condition answered green 24 and blue 12. findings- consistent condition pps agreed on 8.2% of the trials, inconsistent condition pps agreed on 1.25% of the trials. Conclusion- show's that flexibility is more effective at convincing a majority than an inconsistent minority.
• Moscovici at al- the group with confederates who gave the obvious wrong answer on a consistent basis had 8.4% agreement compared to 1.25% of trials with the inconsistent minority group
• The key is to find a balance between consistency and flexiblity
• moscovici- sample of 172 females from America- western only, culture bias, beta bias and gynocentric
• This research on minority influence is helpful in explaining real world events for the minority gaining an influence on the majority such as the Suffridgette movement where the women were putting themselves in potentially vulnerable situations by using commitment (potentially dangerous) , also showed consistency to the cause despite setbacks and opposition
• Suffragettes snowball effect- as more people became aware of the suffragettes arguments and tactics, the issue gained momentum, The initial impact of their efforts, even if small, led to a gradual shift in public opinion and eventually to a greater demand for women’s suffrage
• nemeth 1986- investigated the idea of flexibility in which pps, in groups of four, had to agree on the compensation for a ski lift accident victim, one pp in each group was a confederate and there were two conditions of being rigid and then being able to compromise, nemeth found that in the inflexible condition. the majority was much more likely to compromise and change their view