1 4 minority influence

Minority influence occurs when a small group of people or even an individual changes the attitudes, behaviours, or beliefs of the majority.

c. Minority influence is likely to lead to internalisation.

a and d. The minority has to show full commitment to their message, which is difficult because being in the minority means having to work harder to be heard and taken seriously, and it takes a lot of effort as it is much easier to be part of the majority.

Going to extreme lengths to show commitment to a minority cause is known as the augmentation principle.

False. The findings showed that in the consistent condition there was 8.2% agreement with the minority, whereas in the inconsistent condition, agreement decreased to 1.25%.

Flexibility means that the minority should be able to adapt their message and compromise with the majority view.

b. Nemeth's research involved the 'flexible' condition in which the minority argued for a low rate of compensation but then compromised, offering a slightly higher rate.

True. Commitment, consistency and flexibility have real-world relevance, which means that the theory has good external validity, i.e., it can be generalised to real behaviours in real settings.

Both Moscovici and Nemeth's research is low in mundane realism. Participants were not involved in a real situation.

Social change is a shift or adaptation in social norms. Social norms are the behaviours, attitudes, customs, beliefs, habits people hold.

False. Social change is not sudden; it takes place gradually, sometimes without people realising that change is happening.

b. Often minority influence is the driving force behind social change, e.g. gay rights, the move towards recycling at home.

True. It is important for those in the minority to be flexible in order to bring about social change. This can enable people from the majority to engage in deeper processing of the issue.

c. When a minority view gains more and more attention and is gradually taken up by the majority, this is known as the snowball effect.

Social cryptoamnesia occurs when the minority attitudes, behaviours and beliefs become the majority and it's difficult to remember when things were different.

True. There are positive implications for the economy when it comes to social change. Accepting minority rights means that the workplace is open to more diverse attitudes and practices which can boost productivity.

b. Social change happens slowly which is a limitation because it is difficult to track the progress of social change accurately.

False. The processes of social change are supported by **Dickerson et al. (1992). Participants who had made a prior commitment **changed their behaviour (conserving water) compared to those who had made no such commitment.