minority influence

• What is minority influence?

  One person/small group influences the behaviour or beliefs of other people in the majority

  (opposite of conformity as that is when the majority tries to convince one person)
• What is likely to occur due to minority influence?

  Internalisation
• What was the aim of Moscovici (1969)?

  • Aim - See whether a consistent minority of pps could influence a majority to give incorrect answer(s) in a colour perception test
• What was the procedure for Moscovici (1969)?

  • Tested 32 groups of 6 women with 2 in each group being confederates
  • Groups were then shown 36 blue-coloured slides that all varied slightly in hue-intensity
  • Pps were asked to verbally describe colour of each slide
  • Confederates answered first who consistently said the slide was green
• What were the findings of Moscovici (1969)?

  • Pps agreed with the minority that the slides were green 8% of the time
  • 32% conformed to the minority at least once
• What happened when the confederates answered inconsistently?

  • When confederates answered inconsistently, conformity went down to 1.25%
• What was the conclusion of Moscovici (1969)?

  • Minority influence can make majority conform but consistency is a very important factor for successful minority influence
• What are factors affecting minority influence?

  • Size of minority - Increased size = increase of their influence
  • Confidence in beliefs - belief in their POV means minority groups have greater influence
  • Acting from principle - minority acting from morals and principles increases influence
  • This could be because it seems more justified and morally correct
  • Sacrifice - Personal sacrifices = greater influence
  • Could be because it persuades others that minority must be correct
• What is the snowball effect?

  • As minority influence increases and more of the population conform, it becomes the majority belief
• How does the snowball effect happen?

  • Consistency
  • Commitment
  • Flexibility
• What does consistency do?

  Consistency from a minority group increases interest from the majority
• What is synchronic consistency?

  When the minority all says the same thing (e.g. recycling or a terrorist group)
• What is diachronic consistency?

  When the minority that keeps saying the same thing embeds their message in the mind of the majority which makes them start to think that the minority has a point

  e.g. Birmingham finally passes equal pay
• What is commitment?

  Minorities committing to their cause, sometimes in a dangerous manner, coming under something called the augmentation principle
• What is the augmentation principle?

  When the minority does something extreme and causes the minority some risk because it then demonstrates commitment to the cause, meaning the majority must pay more attention
• What is flexibility?

  Minority need to be prepared to adapt their view and accept reasonable and valid counterarguments to create the most change within the majority
• What did Nemeth say about flexibility?

  Nemeth (1986) said consistency can be perceived negative as it can be seen as dogmatic and unbending (off-putting and push majority further into their view)
• What are the strengths for commitment, consistency and flexibility?

  • Research support for consistency - When minority gave inconsistent answers in Moscovici's study, generally ignored by majority
  • Research support for depth of thought - Martin et al (2003)
  • Gave pps message supporting one viewpoint and measured their support
  • One group heard the minority agree with initial view and one group heard majority support this view
  • All pps then exposed to conflicting view and attitudes were remeasured
  • Pps were LESS willing to switch after listening to minority than majority = minority's message were MORE DEEPLY PROCESSED
• What are the weaknesses of commitment, consistency and flexibility?

  • Artificial tasks - Real life is more complicated so studies lack external validity so have limited real-life application
  • Most studies don't capture commitment that minorities show towards their causes including the social support members give each other when a hostile majority threatens to overwhelm them
  • Effect of minority might not be apparent - Some ppl might be reluctant to admit publicly that they have converted to minority
  • Moscovici found MORE agreement with minority when pps wrote down responses - shows INTERNALISATION took place