lesson 12 - minority influence

define minority influence

a form of social influence where a persuasive minority permanently changes the attitudes and behaviours of the majority

one person/small group influences a larger group or an individual, leading to internalisation

3 factors which increase minority influence

consistency, commitment, flexibility

describe the process of change

majority thinks deeply about the minority view, then snowball effect - minority view becomes majority

describe consistency

minority stays united (synchronic) and keeps the same views over time (diachronic)

describe commitment

augmentation principle - personal sacrifices show minority is not acting out of self-interest

describe flexibility

minority should accept reasonable counterarguments from majority

describe a supporting study, Nemeth

aim was to investigate whether a flexible minority could influence a majority to give less compensation to a victim of a ski-lift accident

ppts were places in groups of 4 and had to agree on a compensation amount. one was a confederate

1. argued for a low rate of compensation and refused to change their position (inflexible)

2. argued for a low rate but compromised and raised it slightly higher (flexible)

findings

Nemeth found that in the inflexible condition the confederate had little influence on the rate however in the flexible condition the ppts were much more likely to compromise and change their view to a lower rate of compensation