Minority Influence

• Minority Influence

  Requires individuals to reject majority beliefs, changing views through informative social influence
• Snowball Effect


  Slow starting social change but speeds up once views are spread
• Minority Influence Behaviours

  • Consistency: confidence in the view, repeating same message
  • Commitment: willing to suffer for their views but still hold them (augmentation principle)
  • Flexibility: appear to consider counter arguement, and slightly compromise
• (+) A03: Moscovici (1969)


  Supporting Consistency, confederates saying blue slides were green consistently = 8.4%, compared to 1.25% inconsistently
• (+) A03: Nemeth (1986)


  Supports Flexibility, confiderate with low flexibility = 3 ppts less likely to change their view, compared to if their were flexible
• (+) A03: Real Life Application

  Supports Commitment, seen in the Gay Rights movement and Suffragettes movement