Minority influence

• minority influence

  form of social influence where a minority of people (maybe one person) persuades others to adopt their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours. Leads to internalisation as public + private attitudes are changed.
• what is required for minority influence?

  • consistency
  • commitment
  • flexibility
• consistency

  when the minority keeps the same beliefs over time and between all the individuals.

  effective as it draws attention to the minority view.
• diachronic consistency

  all individuals have been saying the same thing for some time
• commitment

  when the minority demonstrates the dedication to their cause or views

  effective as it shows they aren't acting out of self interest

  augmentation principle.
• flexibility

  relentless consistency could be counter-productive as minority may be seen as unbending and unreasonable.

  if they show they accept the possibility of compromise it is more effective.
• snowball effect

  overtime an increasing number of people switch from the majority position to the minority position.

  the more it happens, the faster rate of conversion.
• synchronic consistency

  all individuals are saying the same thing
• strength - research support for consistency

  Moscovici et al

  blue/green slides study

  showed consistent minority influence had a greater on changing the views of other people than an inconsistent opinion.

  Wood et al carried out a meta-analysis on 100 similar studies and found being consistent was the most influential
• Strength - research support for deeper processing

  Deeper processing of minority's ideas.

  Martin et al

  Presented a message supporting a particular viewpoint and measured participant's agreement.

  Participants were more willing to change their opinions if they had listened to a minority group rather than a majority group
• Limitation - complexity

  in real life influence situations minority and majority are much more complex than controlled research.

  Majorities have more power and status.

  Minorites are very committed as they have to face hostile opposition.

  these factors often absent from minority influence research.
• Limitation - artificial tasks

  Tasks involved in research are artificial and unrealistic. e.g. blue slides study.

  Research is far removed from how minorities attempt to change majority view in real life .

  For example, jury decision making and political campaign where outcomes are highly important.

  This means it lacks external validity.
• 1. drawing attention
  2. consistency
  3. deeper processing
  4. augmentation principle
  5. snowball effect
  6. social cryptomnesia