Minority Influence

• What is minority influence?

  • Where a small group or even one person persuade others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes, or behaviours
  • Leads to internalisation where both public and private attitudes are changed
• What was Moscovici's procedure?

  • 4 randomly selected participants (maj) put in a group with 2 confederates (min)
  • All shown 36 slides of different shades of blue and asked to say whether the slide was blue or green
  • Confederates deliberately said green on 2/3rds of trials, producing a consistent minority view
  • Control group of ppts. only and no confederates
• What were Moscovici's findings?

  • 8% of participants said the slides were green when the confederates were consistent
  • When inconsistent, only about 1% of participants said the slides were green
  • Shows consistency is crucial for minority to exert maximum influence on a majority
• Why is consistency important for minority influence to be effective? What are the different types of consistency?

  • Consistency shows that the minority's views are real and serious enough to pay attention to if they are determined to stay consistent
  • Synchronic consistency: all members share the same views and agree with eachother - convinces majority there is something worth agreeing with
  • Diachronic consistency: group remains consistent over time and do not change - force opposition to rethink their views repeatedly over time creating doubt
• Why is commitment important for minority influence to be effective?

  • Augmentation principle: minorities engaging in extreme risky activities that demonstrate their commitment, attracting attention from the majority
  • Encourages majority to explore why minority are so dedicated to their beliefs that they will engage in risky activities
• Why is flexibility important for minority influence to be effective?

  • Extremely consistent minorities who repeat old behaviours can be seen as rigid and unbending
  • Minority need to be prepared to adapt their beliefs and accept reasonable counterarguments
  • This makes them appear considerate and compromising, promoting co-operation which is less off-putting for the majority
• What research support strengthens the role of consistency in minority influence?

  • Moscovici et al.'s study showed that a consistent opinion had greater effects on influencing the majority than inconsistency
  • Suggests consistent views are a necessary requirement for influencing a majority
• What research supports the idea of deeper processing of minority beliefs?

  • Martin et al. presented a particular viewpoint and measured participants' agreement
  • One group heard a minority agree, while the other heard a majority agree
  • When exposed to a conflicting view, the group who heard the minority agree were less willing to change their opinions
  • Shows minority message was more deeply processed and had a more enduring effect, supporting how minority influence works
• How does low ecological validity weaken research into minority influence?

  • Moscovici's study used artificial tasks and stimuli - lacks mundane realism because the tasks don't reflect the scenarios that real-life minority groups would face
  • Findings lack ecological validity because the study can't be generalised to real-life settings
• What is the snowball effect with minority influence?

  • Deeper processing - hearing new views from a source that is committed, consistent, and flexible leads to deeper thinking
  • Over time, increasing numbers of people 'convert' to a different, minority viewpoint
  • The more this happens, the faster the conversion (like s snowball gathering more snow as it rolls) and gradually the minority view becomes the majority