Minority influence

• Minority influence intro

  Asch’s study examine the impact of social pressure from a larger group towards an individual

  This type of social pressure is referred to as majority influence.

  Moscovici criticised the traditional experiments on conformity based largely around the Asch approval.

  Moscovici claimed that Asch and others had put too much emphasis on the notion that the majority in a group has a larger influence of on the minority. Moscovici what’s the 1st to identify the process of minority influence as a contrast to majority influence.
• what is minority influence?


  Minority influence is a form of social influence that occurs when an individual or social group of people persuade a larger group change their attitude beliefs or behaviours towards an issue and adopt those of the minority.
• what about the change in the attitude/behaviour to the minority position?

  conversion to minority position, when it occurs, tends to be and longer lasting. Minority influence is most likely to lead to identification both public behaviour and private beliefs are changed by the process.
• consistency, commitment and flexibility


  Moscovici‘s work identified a number of elements of behavioural style that makes minorities persuasive or influential.
• what is consistency?


  Minority influence is the most effective provided the minority keeps repeating the same message overtime (diachronic consistency) and does not deviate from their point of view despite social pressure.
• why is this effective?

  A consistent minority who agrees within the different members of the minority group with our contradicting earlier statements (synchronic consistency) draws attention to the minority view, challenging the beliefs held by the majority and norm.
• how?

  Consistency makes other people start to rethink their own views – producing diet and uncertainty in the minds of the majority
• every day examples

  For example, a group of friends are discussing hard to spend an evening together, one person in a minority might persuade the others to stay and watch a TV program by not wavering from that option.
• evidence?

  Moscovici, Lage and Naffrechoux (1969) blue slide, green slide study

  Serge Moscovici and colleagues conducted a series of experiments called the blue – green studies, to investigate the effects of a consistent minority on a majority.

  They hypothesised that a consistent minority will have greater influence on a majority minority.
• Who conducted the colour perception task in 1969?


  Serge Moscovici and colleagues
• What was the main purpose of the colour perception task conducted by Moscovici?


  To reverse the Asch experiments
• How many slides were shown to participants in the colour perception task?

  36 slides
• What were the participants tested for before the colour perception task?


  Colour blindness
• What were the two conditions involving confederates in the colour perception task?


  • Condition one: Two confederates consistently called all 36 slides green.
  • Condition two: Two confederates inconsistently called 24 out of 36 slides green.
• What was the control condition in the colour perception task?


  Six genuine participants with no confederates
• How did the role of confederates differ between condition one and condition two in the experiment?


  In condition one, confederates were consistent, while in condition two, they were inconsistent
• If a participant in condition one consistently reported the slides as blue, what might this indicate about their conformity?


  They may have low conformity to group pressure
• What was the percentage of participants who adopted the minority position in condition one of Moscovici et al.'s study?


  Just over 8%
• What was the percentage of participants who adopted the minority position in condition two of Moscovici et al.'s study?


  Only 1%
• What does the control condition in Moscovici et al.'s study indicate about the participants' responses?


  No participants referred to the slides as green, indicating no ambiguity about the color of the slides
• What are the findings of Moscovici et al. regarding consistent and inconsistent behavioral styles of minorities?


  • Consistent behavioral style by minorities can change majority views.
  • Inconsistent behavioral style has very little influence over the majority.
• flexibility


  Another important feature of minority influence is flexibility
• what is flexibility?


  flexibility is a willingness to compliance when expressing a position
• what does a minority need to do?


  members of the minority need to be prepared to adjust their point of view and accept other counter arguments.

  The minority should be consistent with regards to their argument or position but should also appear non-dogmatic and reasonable

  The key is to strike a balance between consistency and flexibility avoiding rigidity
• every day examples

  For example, if one person in a group of friends wants to go on travelling in the summer but the rest of the group want to go on a beach holiday.

  The one person(minority) could show flexibility by listening to the other group on agree with going on a beach holiday at the end of the travelling trip
• why is flexibility important

  A minority group that appears rigged and refused to accept that other views might also be justified as likely to be seen as dogmatic(narrowminded)

  This is the majority and unlikely to result in any conversions to the minority position.
• commitment – link

  It is difficult to dismiss a minority view when it adopts an uncompromising and consistent commitment to its position
• what is commitment?

  Commitment is the degree to which members of a minority demonstrate their dedication to a particular cause, activity or position perhaps by making personal sacrifices, putting themselves at some inconvenience or risk
• why is this effective?

  This is effective that the minority is not acting out of self – interest

  majority group members then pay everyone more attention

  This is called the augmentation principle
• why is this important?

  Commitment is important in the influence process because it suggests certainty and confidence in the face of a hostile majority

  The greater the perceived commitment, the greater the influence

  Greater commitment may persuade majority group members to take them seriously or even convert to the majority position
• The process of change – the snowball effect explanation


  All of the three factors outlined make people think about a situation
• What happens when you hear something that agrees with your beliefs?


  It doesn't make you stop and think.
• What might prompt you to think about a new idea?

  If the source of the view is consistent and passionate.
• Why is deeper processing important in conversion to a minority viewpoint?


  It facilitates the process of adopting a different perspective.
• What occurs over time regarding people's viewpoints?


  Increasing numbers of people switch from the majority position to the minority position.
• What does it mean when people have become "converted"?


  They have adopted a different viewpoint from the majority.
• How does the rate of conversion change as more people switch to the minority position?


  The rate of conversion increases.
• What happens when you hear something that agrees with your beliefs?


  It doesn't make you stop and think.
• What is the term used to describe the phenomenon where the minority view becomes the majority view?

  The snowball effect.
• How do you react to hearing something new?

  You might think about it, especially if the source is consistent and passionate.