AO1

• Consistency

  • being consistent in their views
  • Makes people rethink their own opinions and increases the level of interest from others
  • Shows confidence
  • synchronic consistency - people in the minority are all saying the same thing
  • Diachronic consistency - they have been saying the same thing for a long time
• Commitment

  • Minorities engaging in extreme activities to draw attention to their cause and show their dedication
  • It’s important that these activites are at some risk to the minority because it demonstrates commitment to the cause
  • Increases the amount of interest further from other majority group members - the augmentation principle
• Flexibility

  • Show willingness to listen to others and be adaptable - as the minority have little to no power them being flexible shows the majority they are reasonable and able to cooperate making them more persuasive
  • Nemeth argues that consistency is important however it can be interpreted negatively. He argued that if the minority is seen as being inflexible and uncompromising then the majority are unlikely to change
• The process of change

  • All 3 factors used in balance make people think about the topic more deeply or do some further research
  • Over time people become ‘converted‘ and switch from the majority to the minority - the more this happens the faster the rate of conversion (snowball effect)
  • Gradually the minority view becomes the majority and social change has occured
• Research support - moscovici et al

  • 172 American women in groups of 6 (2 confederates per group)
  • Shown 36 slides which were clearly difffernet shades of blue. They were asked to state the colour of each slide out loud
  • Condition 1 - the 2 confederates answered green for each of the slides and were consistent
  • Condition 2 - answered green 24 times and blue 12 times and were inconsistent in their answers
  • Condition 1 - 8.42% of Ppts that gave the wrong answer, condition 2 - 1.25%