minority influence

Question 1

minority influence

Answer 1

A type of social influence that motivates individuals to reject established majority group norms. This occurs through a process of conversion, where majorities become gradually won over to the minority point of view.

Question 2

conversion

Answer 2

Conversion involves the new belief or behaviour being accepted both publicly and privately and is therefore seen as a type of internalisation. It also occurs generally through informational social influence where a minority provides new information and ideas to the minority.

Question 3

snowball effect

Answer 3

Minority influence takes longer to achieve than majority influence, because individuals need time to re-examine their beliefs and behaviour. This gradual process is called social cryptomnesia or ‘the snowball effect’, where a small group gathers enough support to become the majority group.

Question 4

consistency

Answer 4

A minority are most effective if they keep the same beliefs over time and between all individuals within the minority. This helps to draw attention to the minority views.
Evaluation - a researcher found that when a minority are consistent with their opinion, they gained more support. He put participants into one of two groups, their task was to say if the slides that he showed were either green or blue. In one group, the confederates were consistent in giving the incorrect answer and 8% of participants agreed with the confederates. In the other group, the confederates were inconsistent in giving the incorrect answer and only 1% of the participants agreed with the confederates.

Question 5

commitment

Answer 5

A minority is more powerful if they demonstrate dedication to their position, for example by making personal sacrifices.
Evaluation - a researcher discovered a ‘tipping point’, that is the number of people needed to change a minority opinion to a majority opinion. They set up an experiment where they developed their own social network, each participant held a ‘traditional view’ on a given topic but were also open to other views. They then added some committed individuals who held an alternative point of view, which they were committed to. They discussed this topic with each other and after a while the opinion began to shift. The percentage of committed opinion holders necessary to ‘tip’ the majority was just 10%.

Question 6

flexibility

Answer 6

Relentless consistency could be counter-productive if it is seen by the majority as unbending and unreasonable. Therefore minority influence is more effective if the minority shows flexibility by accepting the possibility of compromise.
Evaluation - a researcher created groups of three participants and one confederate (the minority), they had to decide how much compensation to give the victim of a ski lift accident. When the confederate was consistent, arguing for a low amount he had no effect. However when he compromised a little and moved to a slightly higher amount the majority changed their opinion to the lower amount.