Minority influence and social change

• Moscovici (1969) aimed to investigate the view that social influence occurs not just through compliance to the views of the majority but through a change to previously held opinions or internalisation
• For this change to occur, Moscovici proposed that the minority must be consistent in its views, and that this consistency will create conflict in the rest of the group, leading it to question and possibly change its existing views
• In another part of the experiment confederates answered ‘green’ 24 times and ‘blue’ 12 times
• With minority influence people identify with the majority and try to ‘fit in’ with their opinions without careful scrutiny of the message
• In contrast, minority influence creates a conversion process whereby, provided the minority adopt a consistent and committed approach, people will scrutinise the message itself
• When people are first exposed to a minority with a differing view, they assume the minority is in error. However, if the minority are consistent in their message others will come to reassess the situation and consider the issue more seriously
• It’s difficult to dismiss a minority when it adopts an uncompromising and consistent commitment to its position. Commitment suggests certainty, confidence and courage in the face of the hostile majority
• Flexibility is more effective at changing majority opinion than rigidity of argument because minorities are typically powerless compared to the majority, they must negotiate their position with the majority rather than try to enforce it. The minority mustn’t come across as being too dogmatic or narrow minded
• Nemeth and Brilmayer (1987) provided support for the role of flexibility in a simulated situation and found that flexibility is only effective at changing majority opinion in certain circumstances
• Nemeth (2010) argues that dissent, in the form of minority opinion, ‘opens’ the mind. As a result of exposure to minority position, people search for information, consider more options, make better decisions and are more creative. Dissenters liberate people to say what they believe and they stimulate divergent and creative thought even when they’re wrong
• Mackie (1987) argues that the views of the minority don’t necessarily lead to greater processing, but rather it’s the majority who are most likely to create greater message processing. This is due to the belief that the majority of group members share similar beliefs to ours and if the majority express a different view from the one we hold and it must be considered carefully to understand what this is the case