Minority Influence

• define minority influence


  - requires individuals to reject majority behaviour/belief

  - the minority attempts to change views through ISI (likely to result in internalisation\)
• outline the snowball effect of minority influence


  - minorities changing majority opinions starts as a slow process

  - as more of the majority convert, the minority start to become the majority, speeding up the process
• behaviour 1: consistency


  - the minority needs to demonstrate it is confident in its view, repeating the message over time (diachronic consistency) makes the argument seem more powerful
• behaviour 2: commitment


  - if the minority are willing to suffer for their views but still hold them,it is likely to cause members of the majority to take them seriously (augmentation principle)

  - eg: suffragettes
• behaviour 3: flexibility


  - if seen as dogmatic, minorities will not be persuasive

  - need the ability to appear to consider valid counter arguments and slightly compromise
• outline Moscovici (1969)


  - consistency:showed blue slides

  - ppt majority more likely to report slides as green if confederate consistent in calling the slides green

  - 8.4% conformity in consistent trials, 1.25% conformity in inconsistent trials
• outline Nemeth (1986)


  - flexibility: when confederate minority was inflexible in arguing for a low level of compensation for a ski accident, 3 ppts were less likely to change their amount than if a confederate was flexible