Moscovici (1969)

• Aim

  Whether a consistent minority could influence a majority to give an incorrect answer, in a colour perception task
• Sample

  Number = 172

  Gender = female

  Nationality = American
• Procedure

  Participants were placed in groups of six and shown 36 slides, which were all varying shades of blue. The participants had state out loud the colour of each slide.

  Two of the six participants were confederates and in one condition (consistent) the two confederates said that all 36 slides were green. In the second condition (inconsistent) the confederates said that 24 of the slides were green and 12 were blue.
• Findings

  In the consistent condition, the participants agreed on 8.2% of the trials. In the inconsistent condition, the participants agreed on 1.25% of the trials.
• Conclusion

  This shows that a consistent minority is 6.95% more effective than an inconsistent minority and that consistency is an important factor in minority influence.
• Critics

  G = biased sample, all participants were female

  R = lab experiment so high replicability, further research showed reliable results

  A = high applicability, helps us understand revolutions and other forms of minority influence

  V = low task, ecological, and population validity. Artificial tasks, environment, and biased sample

  E = deceived participants and did not get informed consent