Minority influence

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4 Terms

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  • Minority influence refers to situations where a small group or even a single individual influences the beliefs or behaviours of the majority.

  • This form of influence is often slower but leads to deeper, long-lasting changes in attitudes known as internalisation.

  • Psychologists have identified three key processes that make minority influence effective: consistency, commitment, and flexibility.

  • Consistency means that the minority must keep the same message over time and between members, which draws attention and makes people start to rethink their own views.

  • Commitment involves the minority showing dedication, often by making sacrifices, which shows they’re not acting out of self-interest.

  • This increases their credibility through the augmentation principle.

  • Flexibility is also important — minorities that are too rigid are seen as unreasonable, so being open to compromise can be more persuasive.

  • One key study into minority influence included a group of six people were shown 36 blue slides.

  • The confederates consistently said the slides were green.

  • When the minority was consistent, 32% of participants gave the same wrong answer at least once.

  • This shows that a consistent minority can influence the majority, even when they are clearly in the minority.

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  • One strength of the minority influence explanation is that it’s supported by controlled research.

  • Research showed that a consistent minority could influence the majority to give incorrect answers about the colour of slides. When the confederates were consistent, 32% of participants conformed at least once.

  • This shows that consistency is a key factor in minority influence, and that minorities can have a real impact, even in lab settings where the majority clearly holds more power.

  • Therefore, the study supports the theory and provides empirical evidence that minority influence can work under the right conditions.

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  • Another strength is that minority influence has been shown to lead to stronger, longer-lasting attitude change.

  • Research found that participants were more likely to resist opposing views if they had initially been exposed to a minority opinion, rather than a majority one.

  • This suggests that minority messages are processed more deeply.

  • Deeper processing means people internalise the minority view — it’s not just shallow compliance like in majority influence.

  • This adds weight to the idea that minority influence can create permanent social change, especially when it encourages people to think critically.

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  • However, a weakness is that much of the research uses artificial tasks that don’t reflect real life.

  • For example, in a study participants were asked to judge the colour of slides which is very trivial and doesn’t involve personal values or real-world consequences.

  • In real social movements, such as civil rights or climate activism, the stakes are much higher, and influence depends on emotions, context, and politics, not just perception.

  • This means the findings might lack external validity and can’t be generalised well to how minority influence works in everyday or historical contexts.