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Psychology - Social Influence > Minority Influence > Flashcards

Flashcards in Minority Influence Deck (10)
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1
Q

What is minority influence?

A

This is when a minority group gradually influence the position of the majority (often occurs over time)

2
Q

Which type of conformity does minority influence lead to?

A

Internalisation - people genuinely come to accept the views as right and there own

3
Q

Which 3 factors affect the success of minority influence?

A

Consistency
Commitment
Flexibility

4
Q

How does consistency affect minority influence?

A
It helps to create interest in the minority position
Synchronic Consistency (consistency between all the different members) ppl think maybe they have a point if they all think that way
Diachronic Consistency (consistency over time) ppl think maybe they have a point if they keep saying that
5
Q

How does commitment affect minority influence?

A

Commitment, particularly self-sacrifice helps gain the attention of the majority bc they think they must really believe what they say - this leads to the augmentation principle and people consider their own view on the issue

6
Q

How does flexibility affect minority influence?

A

The minority must show consistency but at the same time willing to compromise - not dogmatism, this will just irritate the public and majority view

7
Q

What is the snowball affect and how does it relate to minority influence?

A

The snowball affect occurs when people begin to defect to the minority position, as this happens more and more ppl defect until eventually the minority view is now the majority

8
Q

What is the key study into minority influence?

A

Moscovici’s Blue-Green slides (1969)

9
Q

What were the aims, methods and findings of Moscovici’s study?

A

To see if a consistent minority could influence a majority to give an incorrect answer on a colour perception task.
172 female pcps - in groups of six - shown 36 slides of shades blue - in one condition the 2 confederates consistently said all 36 were green, in another they were inconsistent saying 24 green & 12 blue - consistent condition agreed on 8.2% of trials, only 1.25% for inconsistent

10
Q

What are the evaluation points for minority influence?

A

+ Research support for the importance of consistency - Moscovici et al
- Minority influence research often involves artificial tasks - Moscovici - limited generalisability
- There are limited applications for the minority influence research - real life social influence situations are more complex than min/maj influence
+ Research supports the role of internalisation in minority influence - variation of Moscovici in which answers were written increased conformity to min. position