Minority influence + Social Change

• What is the definition of minority influence?

  how one person or small group influences the beliefs or behaviours of other people/ a majority
• What is meant by conversion process?

  where people scrutinise the message proposed by the minority in order to understand why the minority holds this view
• What happens if the conversion process is successful?

  opinion change tends to be longer lasting -> internalisation
• What can a minority do maximise their chances of bringing about social change?

  • consistency
  • commitment
  • flexibility
• What is meant by consistency in social change?

  all members of minority must be stable in their opinions over time
• What are the types of consistency?

  synchronic + diachronic
• What is meant by synchronic consistency?

  all members of minority saying the same thing
• What is meant by diachronic consistency?

  all members of minority saying the same thing for some time
• What is meant by commitment in social change?

  minority must be dedicated to their case (greater the dedication, the greater the influence)
• What is meant by flexibility in social change?

  minority must show a willingness to compromise when expressing their opinion
• How does consistency help bring about social change?

  reinforcing messages makes majority rethink their views: "maybe they've got a point"
• How does commitment help bring about social change?

  • shows that they are not acting out of self interest
  • extreme activities draws attention to cause
• How does flexibility help bring about social change?

  • shows that they can accept reasonable and valid counter arguments
  • being too stubborn can be off putting to majority
• Who investigated consistency in social change and when?

  Moscovici et al (1969)
• What was the aim of Moscovici's investigation?

  investigate the impact of consistency on minority influence
• What was the sample for Moscovici's study?

  17 female participants
• What was the procedure for Moscovici's study?

  -> participants were told the study was a colour perception task

  -> participants were put into groups of 6 (4 true participants, 2 confederates -> minority)

  -> showed participants 36 slides of different shades of blue

  ->participants were asked to identify the colour of the slide
• What were the conditions of Moscovici's study?

  1. confederates consistently said the slides were green
  2. confederates said green for 24/36 slides
  3. control group - no confederates
• What were the findings from Moscovici's study?

  consistent condition = participants gave wrong answer 8.4% of the time

  inconsistent condition = participants gave wrong answer 1.25% of the time
• What is the evaluation for Moscovici's study?

  :( artificial task -> lacks mundane realism

  :( gender + culture bias

  :( lab study -> demand characteristics

  :) lab study -> causal relationship
• What examples are there of people showing commitment in social change?

  Rosa parks/MLK Jr -> self sacrifice (being arrested)
• Who investigated flexibility in social change and when?

  Nemeth et al (1986)
• What was the aim for Nemeth's investigation?

  investigate whether a flexible minority could influence a majority to give less compensation to a victim of a ski-lift accident
• What was the procedure for Nemeth's investigation?

  placed in groups of 4 and asked to agree on an amount of compensation to give to a victim of a ski lift accident
• What were the conditions of Nemeth's investigation?

  • flexible condition = argued for low rate of compensation but had some leeway to agree a slightly higher rate
  • inflexible condition = argued low rate of compensation and refused to change it's position
• What were the findings of Nemeth's investigation?

  • inflexible condition = minority had little to no effect on majority
  • flexible condition = majority was much more likely to compromise and change their view
• What is the evaluation for Nemeth's investigation?

  :( doesn't reflect power dynamics that would occur in real life situations
• What is the definition of social change?

  when a (part of) society adopts a new belief or way of behaving which then becomes widely accepted as the norms
• What is the process of social change?

  1. drawing attention to an issue
  2. cognitive conflict
  3. consistency of position
  4. the augmentation principle
  5. the snowball effect
• What is meant by drawing attention in bringing about social change?

  social proof of the problem needs to be presented by the minority
• What is meant by cognitive conflict in bringing about social change?

  (similar to conversion process) where people scrutinise the message proposed by the minority in order to understand why the minority holds this view
• What is meant by the augmentation principle in bringing about social change?

  an individual of the minority takes a great risk to highlight the cause and its importance (make people stop and think)
• What is meant by the snowball effect in bringing about social change?


  slowly more and more people change their beliefs until it has become widely accepted
• What is the evaluation for social change?

  :) Research Evidence: Moscovici, Nemeth, Rosa Parks, MLK

  :) Applications: knowing how to effectively bring about social change can better the world and keep society moving forwards

  :( Alternatives: research mostly explores minority and majority influence as working independently -> this should be changed to work in combination