Moscovici et al 1969 blue green study

• Aim


  to investigate the effects of a consistent minority on a majority
• this was a re run of Asch's experiment : instead of one naive participants amongst 7 confederates , he used 2 confederates along with 4 genuine participants
• control measure : participants given eye tests to ensure that they were not color blind
• 36 slides of different shades of blue were shown to all the people
• 2 conditions and control group

  1st condition : consistent minority [ all answered green for all 36 slides ]

  2nd condition : inconsistent minority [ answered green 24 times , blue 12 times ]
• there was a significant difference in the levels of conformity between the 2 conditions

  1st -> 8.42% conformed | 2nd -> 1.25% conformed
• overall 32% of the participants conformed and judged the slide to be green at least once
• sample : 172 women from Italy [ generalizability low , ethnocentric bias ]
• conclusion : minorities can influence majorities but not all the time and only when they behave in a certain way [ consistent behavior style]