Social Influence Essay Questions
Describe and evaluate research into minority influence (16 marks).
Moscovici conducted an experiment into minority influence as he wanted to research how the
minority could influence and change the beliefs of the majority. Moscovici did this through the blue-
green slide experiment, where groups of 2 confederates and 4 naïve participants were shown slides
which varied in shades of blue.
Moscovici conducted this through 3 different experimental conditions. The first condition used was
the ‘control group’, where the confederates said blue for the colour of each slide. The second
condition was the ‘consistent group’, which meant the confederates called all of the blue slides
‘green’. The third condition was the ‘inconsistent group’, where the confederates said ‘green’ on two
thirds of the slides and ‘blue’ on the other third. The ‘consistent’ minority got the majority to convert
their viewpoint in 8% of the trials. This showed Moscovici that the minority can influence the
majority into converting their personal beliefs. However, the ‘inconsistent’ group results hardly
differed from the ‘control’ group. This suggests that a minority group needs to be consistent with
their viewpoint in order to convert the majority’s viewpoint.
Flexibility of the minority was investigated further by Nemeth, who simulated a jury situation and
got people to discuss how much compensation someone should get in a skiing incident. Nemeth’s
results showed that when someone is persistent with their point of view and doesn’t offer a
compromise the majority won’t change their point of view either. However, when someone did
compromise with the majority it caused them to compromise as well. (Suggesting?, Supporting?)
Moscovici’s study lacked ecological validity as it was conducted in a laboratory. This means that is
cannot be related to real life as it was not realistic or in a real environment, as it wasn’t something
that would be commonly experienced in real life. The experiment was fairly ethical as no harm was
caused to the participants and they all gave consent to be in the study, meaning none of them were
deceived. This means that the experiment wasn’t controversial and it can also be reproduced to
gather more supporting evidence and results. However, the experiment lacks population validity as
only female participants were used. This means that the results cannot be generalised to the whole
population, but to females only suggesting that the findings may just apply to females and not
males. The experiment was seen as internally valid as the majority’s conversion of opinion was seen
to be from the influence of the minority and not other variables, also making it more reliable.
Moscovici also made the experiment more reliable because he made the participants take a colour-
blind test, so that if anyone was colour blind it wouldn’t affect the results.
The results show that for a minority to influence a majority they need to be consistent with the
information that they are giving to persuade the majority, they needed to be committed to what
they are talking about, and they have to give compromises to be flexible.
11/16 – need to develop evidence further to gain more AO3 marks ie this means that. Apply
evaluation both positive and negative aspects, and what this could mean for the research.
Outline and evaluate the role of social influence in social change (16 marks).
Social change is where society or a group of society adopts a new belief or way of behaving which
then becomes accepted as the norm.
Moscovici investigated how the minority can change or convert the opinion or view of the majority.
Moscovici used various blue slides to investigate what conditions a minority has to have to use to
influence the majority. To do this Moscovici used different experimental conditions to investigate
consistency and commitment. Moscovici used three different experimental conditions; a control
group where the confederates called all the blue slides blue, a consistent group where the
confederates called all the slides green, and then an inconsistent group where they called two thirds
, of the blue slides green. Moscovici found that the minority needed to be consistent, as the results of
the inconsistent group hardly varied from the control groups results. Therefore, for a minority to
cause a social change they need to be consistent and committed to what they are promoting.
However, as the experiment was conducted in a laboratory it lacks ecological validity. This is because
the experiment was not conducted in a real-life situation, so these results may not reflect real life
and may not generalise to causing social change in every experiment. Also, Moscovici only used
females in his experiment making the results lack populational validity. This is because no male
participants were used, which means that the results can’t be generalised to causing social change
for the whole population. Any supporting evidence?
Nemeth looked further into how a minority need to be flexible in order to cause social change.
Nemeth’s results found that when the confederates weren’t flexible with what they were arguing
for, the majority are less likely to be flexible back. However, if the minority were flexible with what
they were arguing, it made the majority be flexible as well. Therefore, this means that the minority
need to be flexible if they want to cause social change, in order for a new belief to be accepted as
the norm.
Asch investigated how the majority can influence the minority into causing social change, and he did
through a line experiment. Asch investigated how the majority can convert the belief of the minority,
and he did this through three different variables. The first variable was how group size affects
conformity levels. Asch found that when the group consisted of 6-8 confederates, the participants
conformed on 32% of the trials. However, when the number of confederates increased about 8 or
decreased below 6, the level of conformity decreased. This demonstrates that conformity reaches its
highest level with 8 confederates, as a majority pressure is created. This is because the group gains
power which the minority member can feel and then get intimidated and conform to the group
pressure. When the majority increased over 8 the participant may have become suspicious of the
experiment and choose not to conform, this means that the validity of the experiment will decrease.
On the other hand, if the number of confederates decreases below 6 then the majority will not be
able to create enough pressure over the minority. This means that the minority are less likely to
conform, as the majority lack group power. This means that in order for a majority to cause a change
in society, they need to have the right amount of people in order to convert the minority’s beliefs.
The second variable is unanimity in the group. In the first experiment all of the confederates gave
the same incorrect answer and conformity rates were 37%. In a different variation, a confederate
was instructed to give the correct answer throughout the trial, this caused conformity levels to
decrease to 5%. This shows that when the participant has support of their viewpoint, they are more
likely to resist the pressure to conform. This is because the power that the group has, has decreased.
In another experiment, a confederate gave a different incorrect answer to the majority. This caused
conformity to drop by 9%, which shows that if the majority’s unanimous position is broken,
conformity levels will decrease, even if the supporter is incorrect. This is because the participant will
feel less embarrassed in giving an incorrect answer, as they know that someone else has given an
incorrect answer. Also, the majority has lost some of its power over the minority. The third variable
that Asch tested was task difficulty. In Asch’s first experiment, the correct answer was very clear, so
in a variation Asch made the task more difficult. Asch did through making the difference between
the line length smaller, so they appear closer together and more ambiguous. Using this variation
Asch found the rate of conformity increased. This is because of informational social influence, as the
minority looked to the majority when undertaking an ambiguous task, as they believe they will be
right. Therefore, for the majority to cause social change they need to have an appropriate group
size, a unanimous position and the point needs to be ambiguous.
The evidence from Moscovici’s and Nemeth’s experiments show that the minority needs to be
flexible, consistent and committed to cause a change in society. The evidence form Asch’s
experiments shows that the majority need to have group power and pressure in order to cause
social change.
Describe and evaluate research into minority influence (16 marks).
Moscovici conducted an experiment into minority influence as he wanted to research how the
minority could influence and change the beliefs of the majority. Moscovici did this through the blue-
green slide experiment, where groups of 2 confederates and 4 naïve participants were shown slides
which varied in shades of blue.
Moscovici conducted this through 3 different experimental conditions. The first condition used was
the ‘control group’, where the confederates said blue for the colour of each slide. The second
condition was the ‘consistent group’, which meant the confederates called all of the blue slides
‘green’. The third condition was the ‘inconsistent group’, where the confederates said ‘green’ on two
thirds of the slides and ‘blue’ on the other third. The ‘consistent’ minority got the majority to convert
their viewpoint in 8% of the trials. This showed Moscovici that the minority can influence the
majority into converting their personal beliefs. However, the ‘inconsistent’ group results hardly
differed from the ‘control’ group. This suggests that a minority group needs to be consistent with
their viewpoint in order to convert the majority’s viewpoint.
Flexibility of the minority was investigated further by Nemeth, who simulated a jury situation and
got people to discuss how much compensation someone should get in a skiing incident. Nemeth’s
results showed that when someone is persistent with their point of view and doesn’t offer a
compromise the majority won’t change their point of view either. However, when someone did
compromise with the majority it caused them to compromise as well. (Suggesting?, Supporting?)
Moscovici’s study lacked ecological validity as it was conducted in a laboratory. This means that is
cannot be related to real life as it was not realistic or in a real environment, as it wasn’t something
that would be commonly experienced in real life. The experiment was fairly ethical as no harm was
caused to the participants and they all gave consent to be in the study, meaning none of them were
deceived. This means that the experiment wasn’t controversial and it can also be reproduced to
gather more supporting evidence and results. However, the experiment lacks population validity as
only female participants were used. This means that the results cannot be generalised to the whole
population, but to females only suggesting that the findings may just apply to females and not
males. The experiment was seen as internally valid as the majority’s conversion of opinion was seen
to be from the influence of the minority and not other variables, also making it more reliable.
Moscovici also made the experiment more reliable because he made the participants take a colour-
blind test, so that if anyone was colour blind it wouldn’t affect the results.
The results show that for a minority to influence a majority they need to be consistent with the
information that they are giving to persuade the majority, they needed to be committed to what
they are talking about, and they have to give compromises to be flexible.
11/16 – need to develop evidence further to gain more AO3 marks ie this means that. Apply
evaluation both positive and negative aspects, and what this could mean for the research.
Outline and evaluate the role of social influence in social change (16 marks).
Social change is where society or a group of society adopts a new belief or way of behaving which
then becomes accepted as the norm.
Moscovici investigated how the minority can change or convert the opinion or view of the majority.
Moscovici used various blue slides to investigate what conditions a minority has to have to use to
influence the majority. To do this Moscovici used different experimental conditions to investigate
consistency and commitment. Moscovici used three different experimental conditions; a control
group where the confederates called all the blue slides blue, a consistent group where the
confederates called all the slides green, and then an inconsistent group where they called two thirds
, of the blue slides green. Moscovici found that the minority needed to be consistent, as the results of
the inconsistent group hardly varied from the control groups results. Therefore, for a minority to
cause a social change they need to be consistent and committed to what they are promoting.
However, as the experiment was conducted in a laboratory it lacks ecological validity. This is because
the experiment was not conducted in a real-life situation, so these results may not reflect real life
and may not generalise to causing social change in every experiment. Also, Moscovici only used
females in his experiment making the results lack populational validity. This is because no male
participants were used, which means that the results can’t be generalised to causing social change
for the whole population. Any supporting evidence?
Nemeth looked further into how a minority need to be flexible in order to cause social change.
Nemeth’s results found that when the confederates weren’t flexible with what they were arguing
for, the majority are less likely to be flexible back. However, if the minority were flexible with what
they were arguing, it made the majority be flexible as well. Therefore, this means that the minority
need to be flexible if they want to cause social change, in order for a new belief to be accepted as
the norm.
Asch investigated how the majority can influence the minority into causing social change, and he did
through a line experiment. Asch investigated how the majority can convert the belief of the minority,
and he did this through three different variables. The first variable was how group size affects
conformity levels. Asch found that when the group consisted of 6-8 confederates, the participants
conformed on 32% of the trials. However, when the number of confederates increased about 8 or
decreased below 6, the level of conformity decreased. This demonstrates that conformity reaches its
highest level with 8 confederates, as a majority pressure is created. This is because the group gains
power which the minority member can feel and then get intimidated and conform to the group
pressure. When the majority increased over 8 the participant may have become suspicious of the
experiment and choose not to conform, this means that the validity of the experiment will decrease.
On the other hand, if the number of confederates decreases below 6 then the majority will not be
able to create enough pressure over the minority. This means that the minority are less likely to
conform, as the majority lack group power. This means that in order for a majority to cause a change
in society, they need to have the right amount of people in order to convert the minority’s beliefs.
The second variable is unanimity in the group. In the first experiment all of the confederates gave
the same incorrect answer and conformity rates were 37%. In a different variation, a confederate
was instructed to give the correct answer throughout the trial, this caused conformity levels to
decrease to 5%. This shows that when the participant has support of their viewpoint, they are more
likely to resist the pressure to conform. This is because the power that the group has, has decreased.
In another experiment, a confederate gave a different incorrect answer to the majority. This caused
conformity to drop by 9%, which shows that if the majority’s unanimous position is broken,
conformity levels will decrease, even if the supporter is incorrect. This is because the participant will
feel less embarrassed in giving an incorrect answer, as they know that someone else has given an
incorrect answer. Also, the majority has lost some of its power over the minority. The third variable
that Asch tested was task difficulty. In Asch’s first experiment, the correct answer was very clear, so
in a variation Asch made the task more difficult. Asch did through making the difference between
the line length smaller, so they appear closer together and more ambiguous. Using this variation
Asch found the rate of conformity increased. This is because of informational social influence, as the
minority looked to the majority when undertaking an ambiguous task, as they believe they will be
right. Therefore, for the majority to cause social change they need to have an appropriate group
size, a unanimous position and the point needs to be ambiguous.
The evidence from Moscovici’s and Nemeth’s experiments show that the minority needs to be
flexible, consistent and committed to cause a change in society. The evidence form Asch’s
experiments shows that the majority need to have group power and pressure in order to cause
social change.
