Minority influence
- where one person or a small group of people influences the beliefs and behaviour
of others. Leading to internalisation (both public behaviour and private beliefs are
changed by the process)
3 main processes in minority influence:
Consistency
- Minority must be consistent in their views; consistency makes others rethink their own
views.
- Synchronic consistency people in the minority are all saying the same thing.
- Diachronic consistency the minority have been saying the same thing for a long time.
Commitment
- Minorities must demonstrate commitment to their cause or views.
- Minorities may engage in extreme activities to draw attention to their cause, if these
activities cause risk to the minority, it demonstrates commitment.
- Majority group members may become interested and pay more attention this is called
the augmentation principle.
Flexibility
- Charles Nemeth (1986) if the minority is seen as being inflexible and
uncompromising then the majority are unlikely to change.
- He conducted a mock jury with3 genuine ppts and one confederate.
- They had to decide on the amount of compensation to give a ski lift accident victim.
- When the confederate wouldn’t change from a low amount which seemed
unreasonable, the majority stuck together at a much higher amount.
- When the confederate changed his offer, a bit so did the majority.
- Members of the minority need to be prepared to adapt their point of view and accept
reasonable and valid counterarguments, they should strike a balance between
consistency and flexibility.
Explaining the process of change
- All 3 factors make people think about the topic.
- Over time people become converted and switch from minority to majority – the more
this happens the faster rate of conversion (snowball effect)
- Gradually the minorities views become the majority and social change has now
occurred.
- Deeper processing which is important in the process of conversion to a different
viewpoint, over time majority of people switch from the majority to the minority
causing them to become ‘converted’.
- where one person or a small group of people influences the beliefs and behaviour
of others. Leading to internalisation (both public behaviour and private beliefs are
changed by the process)
3 main processes in minority influence:
Consistency
- Minority must be consistent in their views; consistency makes others rethink their own
views.
- Synchronic consistency people in the minority are all saying the same thing.
- Diachronic consistency the minority have been saying the same thing for a long time.
Commitment
- Minorities must demonstrate commitment to their cause or views.
- Minorities may engage in extreme activities to draw attention to their cause, if these
activities cause risk to the minority, it demonstrates commitment.
- Majority group members may become interested and pay more attention this is called
the augmentation principle.
Flexibility
- Charles Nemeth (1986) if the minority is seen as being inflexible and
uncompromising then the majority are unlikely to change.
- He conducted a mock jury with3 genuine ppts and one confederate.
- They had to decide on the amount of compensation to give a ski lift accident victim.
- When the confederate wouldn’t change from a low amount which seemed
unreasonable, the majority stuck together at a much higher amount.
- When the confederate changed his offer, a bit so did the majority.
- Members of the minority need to be prepared to adapt their point of view and accept
reasonable and valid counterarguments, they should strike a balance between
consistency and flexibility.
Explaining the process of change
- All 3 factors make people think about the topic.
- Over time people become converted and switch from minority to majority – the more
this happens the faster rate of conversion (snowball effect)
- Gradually the minorities views become the majority and social change has now
occurred.
- Deeper processing which is important in the process of conversion to a different
viewpoint, over time majority of people switch from the majority to the minority
causing them to become ‘converted’.
