Made by Leena Mahmood
MOSCOVICI 1976
- The term ‘minority influence’ refers to a form of social influence that is attributed to
exposure to a consistent minority position in a group.
- Minority influence is generally felt only after a period of time, and tends to produce
private acceptance of the views expressed by the minority.
- An important real-life example of a minority influencing a majority was the
suffragette movement in the early years of the 20th century. A relatively small
group of suffragettes argued strongly for the initially unpopular view that women
should be allowed to vote. The hard work of the suffragettes, combined with the
justice of their case, finally led the majority to accept their point of view.
Behavioural Style
Moscovici stated that behaviour has a big effect over people to agree with you since the
minority needs to be consistent with their opinion. They must be confident in the
correctness of their ideas, they should also appear to be unbiased. Finally, they should
resist social pressure and abuse. All these points would make them seem more credible and
maximize their influence.
Style of thinking
Research has shown that if a minority can get the majority to think about an issue and
think about arguments for and against, then the minority stands a good chance of
influencing the majority (Smith et al., 1996).
If the minority can get the majority to discuss and debate the arguments that the minority
are putting forward, influence is likely to be stronger (Nemeth, 1995).
MOSCOVICI 1976
- The term ‘minority influence’ refers to a form of social influence that is attributed to
exposure to a consistent minority position in a group.
- Minority influence is generally felt only after a period of time, and tends to produce
private acceptance of the views expressed by the minority.
- An important real-life example of a minority influencing a majority was the
suffragette movement in the early years of the 20th century. A relatively small
group of suffragettes argued strongly for the initially unpopular view that women
should be allowed to vote. The hard work of the suffragettes, combined with the
justice of their case, finally led the majority to accept their point of view.
Behavioural Style
Moscovici stated that behaviour has a big effect over people to agree with you since the
minority needs to be consistent with their opinion. They must be confident in the
correctness of their ideas, they should also appear to be unbiased. Finally, they should
resist social pressure and abuse. All these points would make them seem more credible and
maximize their influence.
Style of thinking
Research has shown that if a minority can get the majority to think about an issue and
think about arguments for and against, then the minority stands a good chance of
influencing the majority (Smith et al., 1996).
If the minority can get the majority to discuss and debate the arguments that the minority
are putting forward, influence is likely to be stronger (Nemeth, 1995).
