Outline and evaluate minority influence (16 marks)
Minority influence refers to situations where a minority group influences a majority group into siding with
their views, bringing about social change. For minority influence to occur, three processes must be involved:
commitment, consistency and flexibility. Consistency is where the group maintains their view solidly for a
period of time. There are two types of consistency: synchronic (everyone saying the same thing) and
diachronic (everyone saying the same thing over a long period of time). Consistency can bring about minority
influence as it shows the majority that the minority are dedicated to their view. Commitment is where the
group shows that they are dedicated to their view through the augmentation principle. This is where someone
sacrifices something such as their time or energy to prove their dedication to their group. Too much
consistency can suggest to the majority that the minority are dogmatic. This is where flexibility comes in. The
minority group must be flexible to show the majority that they may compromise, to not put them off from
agreeing with the minority.
A strength of minority influence is that there is research support for consistency. Moscovici et al conducted sa
study known as the blue-green slide study. 36 slides of colours varying in intensity of the colour blue-green
were laid out in front of participants and confederates. They were then asked what colour it was. In situations
where the confederates were consistent, the participants gave the wrong colour 8.42% of the time. This is
compared to the 1.25% when the confederates were not consistent. This is a strength as it shows that
consistency is necessary to bring about minority influence.
Another strength of minority influence is that it has evidence in real-life history. The suffragette movement is a
great example of how minority influence can occur. The suffragettes showed both synchronic and diachronic
consistency in their movement. They demonstrated commitment with emily davidsons suicide in front of the
kings horse, and they demonstrated flexibility by offering up some forms of compromise in terms of their
rights. The use of all these techniques eventually lead to the minority influence that has allowed women the
rights they have today. This is a strength as it supports the idea that the three processes can actually lead to
minority influence over a long period of time.
A weakness of minority influence is that it has a rare application to real life circumstances. In studies that
investigate minority influence there is a clear distinction between the minority and the majority. For the sake
of the study, they are usually just normal civilians. However, in real life situations where there may be an
attempt at minority influence, the groups are usually very different. The majority are usually more powerful
and superior to the minority, and so it would become harder for the majority to be swayed. Furthermore,
minority groups are usually a lot more dedicated to their cause than they are in studies as they are actually
fighting for something important to them in real life. This is a weakness as it decreases the validity of minority
influence.
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