Minority influence

• • Minority Influence occurs when a small group of people or even an individual changes the attitudes, behaviours and beliefs of the majority
  • Minority influence is the opposite of conformity which involves an individual being influenced by the majority
• • Minority influence is likely to lead to internalisation i.e. both public and private behaviour and beliefs align
  • The factors which enhance the effectiveness of a minority include consistency, commitment and flexibility 
• Consistency

  • The minority has to be consistent in their views i.e. promoting a specific 'message' which does not fluctuate or change over time
  • Staying consistent to a message/stance/viewpoint/belief is a way of showing the majority that you are firm, resolute and strong in the face of possible criticism or outright hostility
• • Consistency may be one or both of the following:
  • Synchronic consistency: The minority presents a united front and share the same view/message
  • Diachronic consistency: The minority have been arguing for their view/message for some time 
• • Consistency may produce a war of attrition i.e. the majority may begin to look seriously at the minority's stance, possibly admiring them for not veering from what they believe in - and gradually this can chip away the doubts and misgivings of most people
  • An example of consistency can be seen in climate change activists: the message is the same (i.e. the earth is dying) and, over time, more people are taking this seriously
• Commitment

  • The minority has to show full commitment to their message and not be put off by naysayers and critics
  • Commitment is often demonstrated via direct (and indirect) action (which can be extreme in some cases e.g. burning animal-testing labs down)
• • Strong commitment - even when the minority are are openly mocked or vilified - may lead the majority to think that the minority clearly believe in their campaign i.e. the minority has a point (known as the augmentation principle)
  • An example of commitment is the martyrdom of Emily Davison, a suffragette who flung herself in front of the king's horse at the Epsom Derby to raise awareness of women's right to vote
• Flexibility

  • The minority should be able to adapt their point of view and accept reasonable and valid counter opinions otherwise most people will be put off and may remain unsympathetic (this is where consistency should be modified)
  • The minority are in a difficult position (precisely because they are the minority) so they do not have the luxury of assuming that in time everyone will agree with them, hence the need for a flexible approach
  • Maintaining a rigid, inflexible stance could, ultimately, spell the end of any interest from the majority
• The process of change

  • The three factors - consistency, commitment and flexibility - make people think about the minority cause
  • Over time, the increasing numbers who change from the majority to the minority, are the converted
  • The more this process happens, the faster the rate of conversion from majority to minority
  • The above process is called the snowball effect - what starts out small gathers pace and picks up new members, like a snowball being rolled downhill
  • Over time, the minority becomes the majority
• Research which investigates minority influence

  • Nemeth (1986) Participants in the inflexible condition (who refused to consider anything other than a low rate of compensation for people injured in an accident) had little or no effect on the majority; however, in the flexible condition, the majority members were much more likely to also compromise and change their view
• Evaluation of minority influence

  Strengths

  • Research supports the idea of the consistent minority (Wood et. al's meta-analysis showed a strong effect size for consistency)
  • Real-world examples (as outlined above on this page) show that minority influence can and does happen, hence the theory has external validity
• Evaluation of minority influence

  Weaknesses

  • Moscovici's study asked participants to state the colour of a slide which is an artificial task which lacks mundane realism
  • Minority influence may in part be due to the personality of the people or main person associated with the group rather than with their cause e.g. charismatic cult leaders who persuade people to join their group