minority influence

• Minority influence

  A form of social influence in which a minority of people persuade others to adopt their beliefs

  Leads to internalisation or conversion, in which both private attitudes and public behaviours are changed.
• Moscovici et al's experiment


  172 female Ps were randomly assigned one of three conditions. Each group comprised of four naive Ps and a two confederates.

  They were shown 36 blue slides that varied in intensity and were asked to judge the colour of each slide.

  1. Consistent condition: Confederates repeatedly called the blue slides 'green'

  2. Inconsistent condition: Confederates called the slides 'green' on 2/3 (24) of the trials and on the remaining 1/3 (12) called the slides 'blue'.

  3. Control condition: 6 naive Ps and no confederates, Ps called the slides 'blue' throughout.
• Moscovici et al's findings

  In the consistent condition, participants conformed and said 'green' on over 8% of the trials.

  In the inconsistent condition, participants conformed and said 'green' on 1.25% of the trials.

  Shows that consistency affects how they conform since the percentage was higher in the more consistent condition.
• Consistency

  This refers to how committed a minority group is to their position over time, maintaining their belief.

  The more consistent, the more likely for a group to be influenced.

  If there is an inconsistency, a group can be exploited, which will create doubt, preventing conformity taking place.

  Diachronic consistency - consistency over time.

  Synchronic consistency - people in the minority are all saying the same thing.
• Commitment

  Refers to the idea that the minority must demonstrate dedication to the cause.
• Example of consistency

  LGBTQ movementhave been fighting for their rights since the early 1920s. their aim has never changed
• Example of commitment

  stonewall riots (1969)police raided a gay bar in new yorkinstead of accepting, the people in the bar fought back and protests continued outside for weeks to follow. they risked being hurt, arrested, etc
• Flexibility

  The minority is open to alternative perspectives and are willing to adapt their arguments.
• How does the majority influence the minority?


  Power of the majority to establish norms.

  Result - compliance rather than conversion
• How does the minority influence the majority?


  Consistent minority challenges beliefs leading to reappraisal - conversion rather than compliance.
• Snowball effect


  'Social cryptoamnesia' this is where gradually more people convert to the minority, turning it into the majority. the more people to convert, the faster the rate of conversion e.g. Women's rights to vote.
• + Supporting research for consistency


  E - Moscovici's 'blue slide, green slide' study showed that a consistent minority group had a greater effect on changing the views of others. Wood (1994) carried out a meta-analysis of almost 100 similar studies and found that minorities who were being consistent were most influential.

  E - This suggests that being consistent is the minimum requirement for a minority trying To influence a majority.

  L - Therefore, this supporting evidence shows that consistency is an effective way of influencing a minority.
• / Moscovici - unrepresenative sample


  E - The study included 172 female participants and did not look at males.

  E - The results cannot be generalised to the greater population since male's may conform differently.

  L - Furthermore, research has shown that females are more likely to conform which therefore suggests the experiment lacks ecological validity.
• / Moscovici - artificial task


  E - Participants completed the task in a laboratory and identifying the colour of a slide is an artificial task.

  E - This doesn't represent how minorities attempt to change the behaviour of majorities in real-life.

  L - Therefore, the experiment that moscovici completed lacks mundane realism as it can not be generalised to real life situations.
• / Moscovici - Ethical issues


  E - Participants though they were completing a colour deception test, which therefore means they were deceived and not told the real aim of the experiment.

  E - This means the participants would not have given full informed consent which breaks the ethical guidelines.

  L - However, deception is needed in order to have accurate findings which could outweigh the negatives.
• Types of minority influence

  • Commitment
  • Consistency
  • Flexibility