Minority influence

• Minority influence

  Situations where one person or a small group of people influences the beliefs and behaviour of other people
• Minority influence

  • Leads to internalization: private attitudes are changed as well as public behaviours
  • Majority influence: where the majority is doing the influencing
• consistency

  • The minority keeps the same beliefs, both over time and between all the individuals that form that minority
• Consistency is effective because it draws attention to the minority view
• • Synchronic consistency: the minority are all saying one same thing
  • Diachronic consistency: the minority have been saying the same thing for some time
• Commitment

  The minority demonstrates dedication to their position, e.g. making personal sacrifices.
• Flexibility


  The minority shows flexibility by accepting the possibility of compromise.
• Research support for consistency

  Consistent minority opinions, such as in Moscovici et al.'s study, are more influential in changing views than inconsistent opinions, as shown by Wood et al.'s meta-analysis.
• Research support for deeper processing

  Martin et al. found that participants were less likely to change opinions after hearing a minority group support a view compared to a majority group, suggesting a more enduring effect of minority influence.
• Counterpoint

  Real-life social influence is more complex than research like Martin et al.'s, where majorities have more power, and minorities face strong opposition. These real-world factors are often overlooked in studies.
• Artificial task

  Minority influence research is artificial and doesn't reflect real-life scenarios, such as jury decisions or political campaigns, limiting its external validity.