​Hot Spot number 8

This hot spot suffers from being at the end of the topic on the specification. It can be glossed over but could cost you dearly in terms of marks. So be prepared for it.The examiner can ask you about 'The role of minority influence in social change'For this you need Moscovici’s study as a starting point. It is invaluable for this question. It’s all about green / blue slides, confederates in a minority, consistent massages and that all important 8% figure. 8% of what you ask… Well 8% of the participants ( in a majority) agreed with a wrong answer given by a minority. So? It may not be anything like the conformity figures, but it does show that if a consistent message is put across by a minority they can change the minds of the majority. Then the majority gets smaller, the minority bigger and we have the snowball effect. That goes some way to explaining how social change can occur…So learn Moscovici! Don’t forget him ( Do you think I mentioned 8% enough?!)