Minority Influence

Question 1

What is minority influence?

Answer 1

• A form of social influence when members of the majority group change their beliefs or behaviours as a result of their exposure to a persuasive minority.

Question 2

What is majority influence?

Answer 2

People identify with the majority and try to ‘fit in’ with their opinions without careful scrutiny of the message,
Whereas, with a minority influence, people scrutinise the message of the minority. This can lead to a deeper and longer lasting change as the6 have internalised the minorities point of view.

Question 3

How must people behave in order to influence society as a minority?

Answer 3

CONSISTENCY:
- When people are first exposed to a minority with a differing view, they assume the minority is in error. However, if the minority adopts a consistent approach, they increase the amount of interest.

Question 4

What is synchronic consistency?

Answer 4

• Everyone in the majority is spreading the same message.

Question 5

What is diachronic consistency?

Answer 5

• The message has been the same for a long time.

Question 6

What is commitment?

Answer 6

• Important in the influence process because it suggests certainty, confidence and courage in the face of a hostile majority.
• This commitment may persuade the majority group members to take them seriously, or even convert to the minority position.
• It can often involve risk to draw attention to their views.

Question 7

What is flexibility?

Answer 7

MUGNY:
- More effective at chang8ng the majority opinion than the rigidity of arguments.
- A rigid minority that refuses to compromise risks being perceived as dogmatic i.e. narrow minded and refusing to consider that other opinions might also be justified.
- However, a minority that is too flexible and too prepared to compromise risks being seen as inconsistent.

Question 8

What is the procedure to Moscovici et als study on minority influence and social change?

Answer 8

Moscovici et al:
Procedure:
- Laboratory experiment
- 192 participants judged the colour of 36 slides. All the slides were blue, but the brightness of the blue varied.
- Two of the six participants in each group were confederates.
- In one condition, the confederates called all 36 slides ‘green’ (consistent) and in another condition, they called 24 of the slides ‘green’ and 12 of the slides ‘blue’ (inconsistent).
- A control group was also used which contained no confederates.

Question 9

What was the findings to Moscovici et als stud6 on minority influence and social change?

Answer 9

• Participants in the consistent condition yielded and called the slides green in 8.4% of the trials.
• Participants in the inconsistent condition yielded and called the slides green in 1.3% of the trials.
  Therefore it shows that if a minority is consistent, they can influence the majority.

Question 10

What was Nemeths study on flexibility?

Answer 10

Procedure:
- The experiment was based on a mock jury in which groups of three participants and one confederate had to decide on the amount of compensation to be given to the victim of a ski-lift accident.

Question 11

What were the findings and conclusion of Nemeths study on flexibility?

Answer 11

• When the consistent minority (the confederate) argued for a very low amount and refused to change his position, he had no effect on the majority. However, when he compromised and moved some way towards the majority position, the majority also compromised and changed their view.
• Suggesting that when people are flexible, they have more of an effect on the majority. Therefore, suggesting that.compromise maybe more important than flexibility.