minority influence and social change

• minority influence - when members of a majority group are converted to the views of a minority
• the effectiveness of a minority can be affected by consistency, commitment and flexibility 
• consistency:

  • if members of the minority repeat the same message over time and all group members give the same message
  • members of the majority group are more likely to consider the minority position and reconsider their own
• synchronic consistency - everyone is doing and saying the same thing 
• diachronic consistency - over an extended period of time 
• commitment:

  showing how willing you are to do something

  e.g. movements, volunteering, passing of posters

  just stop oil - blocking off roads, slow downs
• flexibility:

  If seen as dogmatic, minorities will not be persuasive they need the ability to appear to consider valid counter arguments

  this flexibility encourages majority members to move closer to the minority position