Minority Influence

• Researched by Moscovici, the three things minority need to do to influence a majority:

  • Consistency
  • Commitment
  • Flexibility
• Minority influence- 1

  1. Consistency- The minority's view increases the amount of interest from other people.

  Synchronic consistency - they're (the minority) all saying the same thing

  Diachronic consistency - consistent ideas over time

  Consistency causes others to rethink their own views
• Minority influence - 2

  2. Commitment - Minorities engage in extreme activities to draw attention to their view, these come at some risk to the minority

  Majority now pays more attention to the minority
• Minority influence - 3

  3. Flexibility - Members of the minority need to be prepared to adapt their POV and accept valid counter-arguments.
• Minority influence- Msocovici's Research

  • Moscovici found the minority must be consistent in its viewpoint if they wish to influence the majority's opinion
• Minority Influence - Moscovici's research 


  • Colour perception task
  • Participants placed in groups of six
  • Shown 36 slides of varying shades of blue
  • Participants stated colour of each slide out loud
  • Two of the six participants were confederates

  Findings: Moscovici found that in the consistent condition, the real participants agreed on 8.2% of the trials, whereas in the inconsistent condition, the real participants only agreed on 1.25% of the trials.
• Minority Influence - Nemeth's Research

  Nemeth investigated minority influence and found that consistency from the minority can be interpreted negatively.
• Nemeth's Research Method

  1. Participants, in groups of four, had to agree on the amount of compensation they would give to a victim of a ski-lift accident

  2. One of the participants in each group was a Confederate

  3. Two conditions:

  • Minority argued for a low rate of compensation and refused to change their position (inflexible)
  • Minority argued for a low rate of compensation but compromised by offering a slightly higher rate of compensation (flexible)