Topic Summaries

Minority influence

A-Level > Psychology > AQA > A-Level Psychology Topic Summaries > Social influence > Minority influence
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Addiction

  • 👥 Moscovici (1969) theorised that minority groups can also exert pressure on majority groups; it’s not just the other way around.He set up an experiment with 6 people and showed them blue coloured slides and then asked if they were blue or green. There were two confederates who consistently and then inconsistently said the slides were green. When both said green, the agreement rate was 8%. However, when they inconsistently agreed, the agreement rate dropped to 1%. From this research, he concluded that in order for a minority group to have an influence on a majority group, there needed to be consistency, commitment, and flexibility.
    • Consistency: can be synchronic (where everyone says the same thing) or diachronic (where they continue to say the same thing over time).
    • Commitment: it’s more difficult to dismiss a minority group when they show a great level of commitment to their principles – especially when they compromise their own safety for the cause. Commitment involving a loss like disapproval from the majority is more likely to gain attention and convince the majority to take them seriously

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