Minority Influence

• Minority influence refers to situations where one person or a small group a people (minority) influence the beliefs and behaviours of other people. It’s more likely to lead to internalisation - public behaviours and private behaviour are changed. Moscovici studied this process in his blue slide, green slide study. This study along with other research, have dawn attention to three main processes in minority influence
• Purposes of Minority Influence 1/3

  Consistency

  • The minority must be consistent in their views; over time this consistency increases the amount of interest from other people. It can take form in either synchronic consistency (a lot of people saying the same thing) or diachronic consistency (saying the same thing for a long time). A consistent minority makes people rethink their own views.
• Purposes of Minority Influence 2/3

  Commitment

  • The minority must demonstrate commitment to their cause or views. Its important that if minorities engage in extreme activities to draw attention, they present some risk to the minority; it shows greater commitment. This is called the augmentation principle.
• Purposes of Minority Influence 3/3

  Flexibility

  • Nemeth argued that consistency isn't the most important factor; it can be off-putting. Someone who is extremely consistent can be seen in a negative light as rigid, unbending and dogmatic. This approach is unlikely to gain many converts to the minority position on is own. Members of the minority need to be ready to adapt their point of view and accept valid and reasable counterarguments.
• Process of Change - Minority Influence

  Hearing something you already agree with doesn’t make you stop and think; if you hear something new then you might think more deeply about it, especially if the source of this other view is consistent, committed and flexible. Deeper processing is important in the process of conversion to a different viewpoint. Over time, increasing numbers a people switch from the majority view to the minority view. The more this happens, the faster the rate of conversion.
• The snowball effect takes place during the process of change from the majority view to minority view: change has occur.
• Lessons from minority influence research (examples) 1/2

  1. Drawing attention- civil rights marches drew attention to the situation, providing social proof of segregation
  2. Consistency - civil rights activists represented a minority but their position remained consistent. Millions of people took part in many marches over several years, presenting the same messages.
  3. Deeper processing - the activism meant that many people who just accepted the status quo began to think deeply about the unjustness of it.
• Lessons from minority influence research (examples) 2/3

  4. The augmentation principle- individuals risked their life multiple times - personal risk indicates a strong belief and reinforces their message.

  5. The snowball effect - activists gradually got the attention of the government and more people backed the minority view, marking a change from minority to majority support for civil rights.

  6. Social crypto amnesia - people have a memory that change occurred but don’t remember the events leading up to it