Minority Influence

• What is minority influence?


  Refers to how one person or a small group can influencd other to adopt their beliefs

  - leads to conversion & private changes in behaviour
• What 3 factors is minority influence influenced by?

  - consistency

  - commitment

  - flexibility
• When is consistency needed in minority influence?

  - when minority is consistent w their msg. Involves synchronic consistency & diachronic consistency
• What is synchronic consistency?


  all members of minority say the same thing
• What is diachronic consistency?

  Where the minority maintains the same beliefs & behaviours over time
• When could consistency be a bad thing, why is it important to show flexibility?

  could b counter-productive if it is seen by the majority as unbending & unreasonable - minority should show flexibility by accepting possibility of compromise
• When is commitment important in minority influence?

  - minority demonstrates commitment to their cause/ views e.g making personal sacrifices

  - this is effective as it shows that minority is not acting out of self-interest & helps bring attention
• What is one strength of consistency?

  - evidence : Moscovici et al.

  - blue-green slide study

  - significantly more ppl converted to minority when consistent - 8.42% pps converted

  - inconsistent condition - 1.25%

  - suggests presenting consistent view is essential for minority influence
• What is one limitation of consistency?

  - low rates of conversion

  - 8.42% low enough that MI consistently may not b useful explanation

  - further experiment - pps had to write answers down. Those who had been exposed to consistent minority showed a perpetual shift

  - suggests that although members of majority may have been reluctant publicly admit their conversion, they had privately altered their opinion

  - Moscovici's research may still b applicable
• What is one limitation of the task?

  - highly artificial & not representative of minority influence irl

  - lack mundane realism

  - real-life situations more likely for their to b significant consequences to beliefs & behaviours - e.g jury decision-making

  - this means that research findings lack ecological validity as they r not applicable to real life situations
• What is the snowball effect?


  the more number of people that are converting to a minority position. The faster the rate of conversion happens.