In order for a minority group to influence the majority, Moscovici found that they must have the following qualities or characteristics: Consistent … The study of minority influence began as reaction to the portrayal of influence as the province of status and numbers and from a realization that minorities need not just be passive recipients of influence but can actively persuade. Moscovici et als (1969) green blue slide study further shows how minority groups can achieve social change as it shows how a minority can affect the majority. Minority Influence. One challenge of group tasks and decisions is that members of groups are not always in agreement with each other; some members of the group might hold that one view or behavior is preferable, whereas other group members might hold that an opposing view or behavior is preferable. Being completely consistent all the time may actually give the impression that the minority is rigid and unbending – which is undesirable. One of the participants in each group was a confederate and there were two conditions: 1) when the minority argued for a low rate of compensation and refused to change his position (inflexible); 2) when the minority argued for a low rate of compensation but compromised by offering a slightly higher rate of compensation (flexible). LS23 6AD Moscovici identified that you need an outspoken minority advocating a different way of doing things to cause social change. There are factors that are involved in minority influence: consistency and commitment and flexibility. Consistency seems to be the most important feature here, as it shows the minority are committed, especially if the minority have had to resist social pressures and abuses against their viewpoint, and creates enough doubt about established norms to get individuals to re-examine their own beliefs and behaviour. Minority influence is where members of the majority group change their beliefs and behaviours as a result of their exposure to a minority. Participants were told that it was an investigation into perception. Consistency in the face of abuse shows minorities are committed and helps motivate individuals to consider their viewpoint. Unlike majority influence, which maintains the status quo, minority influence brings about social change. Board: AQA, Edexcel, OCR, IB. Consistent minorities are persuasive, creates doubt about established viewpoints/beliefs. Boston House, Minority influence. Description (AO1) of Minority Influence Research: Definition of Minority Influence – A type of social influence that motivates the individuals to reject the established majority group norms, achieved then majorities are gradually won over to a minority viewpoint. 4 Supporting Research. (1969). In some studies, rigid minorities obtained less influence when disagreement with the minority was particularly Flexibility is also a key behavioural trait for minority influence to change majority opinion according to Mugny (1982). Srul Hersh (Serge) Moscovici claimed that if majority influence was all-powerful, we would all think and behave the same. 18. Members of the minority group need to be prepared to amend their views and accept reasonable counterarguments. Discuss the role of minority influence in social change (12 marks) A01 Minority influence is when something in society changes due to the influence of a small group (a minority group). If a minority is consistent, flexible and non-dogmatic, they can challenge the beliefs held by the majority. Many tasks and decisions are completed by groups of people instead of by a single person. Minority influence is more likely to occur if the point of view of the minority is consistent, flexible, and appealing to the majority. If they are seen to be flexible by demonstrating an ability to be moderate, co-operative and reasonable, then they will be persuasive. The study does not identify important factors in minority influence, like group size, status or degree of stress. On the one hand, Moscovici shows that minorities need to be consistent, whereas Nemeth shows that minorities need to be flexible. MINORITY INFLUENCE… • 3. As the minority group generally have little or no power as they are in the minority, showing themselves to be flexible shows the majority they are able to cooperate and be reasonable which is more persuasive than a group that is rigid, narrow-minded and difficult to work with. Minority influence in name only > Nemeth, 2010, stated that it is still difficult to convince people of the value of dissent > People become irritated by a dissenting view that persists and fears the lack of harmony within the group where dissent is welcome. 1. why is consistency important for minority influence? Flexibility • Nemeth (1986) • When the confederate (minority) argued for a very low amount and refused to change his position, he had no effect on the majority • Yet when he compromised and moved towards the majority, the majority also compromised. Focus versus flexibility: majority and minority influence can both improve performance. Flexibility. . This shows how minorities need to be flexible to be persuasive, while at the same time questions the importance of consistency. Consistent minorities have even greater influence on private attitudes. Commitment. internalization)- converting the majority by convincing them that the minority's views are right. To investigate the role of a consistent minority upon the opinions of a majority in an ambiguous situation. Consistency: Minority influence is effective provided there is a stability in the expressed position over time and agreement among different members of the minority Flexibility : A willingness to be flexible and to compromise rather than being rigid when expressing a position Although the consistent condition finding of 8.2 per cent seems a small figure, it is significantly higher than the inconsistent condition figure 1.25 per cent and so shows that although minority influence is relatively small, consistency is the important variable. When the minority refuse to budge from their opinion they were not persuasive; however, when they appeared flexible by compromising, they were seen as less extreme, co-operative and reasonable and were more persuasive in changing majority opinions. a form of social influence that is attributed to exposure to a consistent minority position in a group. Minority influence: flexibility • Nemeth (1986) reviewed Moscovici’s research and concluded that it was not just consistency that made a minority influential. Biographies. However, when he compromised a little and moved to offering a slightly higher amount, the majority changed their opinion to a lower amount. Influence of a consistent minority on the responses of a majority in a colour perception test — Serge Moscovici et al. Having a consistent and unwavering opinion will increase the appeal to the majority, leading to a higher chance of adaption to the minority view. From these beginnings, a considerable body of research, including ours, has investigated how minority views prevail. Conformity research suggests females are more conformist which means informed consent could not be persuasive this shows how need. They be so wrong and yet so sure of themselves the one hand, Moscovici shows that minority. 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