Around the turn of the 20th century, American leaders began to recognize the accumulating effects of immigration and civil rights. 35, 137149. eds. (2017). In other words, the outcomes of social influence attempts aimed at effecting versus preventing social change should have reciprocal effects on the sources of social influence (Hypothesis 2, see below Agenda item 2). Apparently, a hard-earned social capital in the form of former opponents support paid high dividends as successful minorities became increasingly efficient in their advocacy. Minority influence occurs when a minority group impacts the majoritys Psychology approaches, theories and studies explained, Access 2,200+ insightful pages of psychology explanations & theories, Insights into the way we think and behave, Body Language & Dream Interpretation guides. M. Mikulincer and P. R. Shaver (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association), 334. (eds.) Creative problem solving as a result of majority vs minority influence. J. Soc. Shared reality: Motivated connection and motivated cognition, in Social Psychology: Handbook of Basic Principles. M. Mikulincer and P. R. Shafer, (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association), 507533. (2009). 13, 4355. Whereas any classification of motives is unavoidably imperfect, three broad motives are readily identifiable from the previously mentioned analysis of minority and majority positions (Prislin and Christensen, 2005a; Prislin and Wood, 2005): Social validation or a sense of correctness, social acceptance or a sense of belonging, and social control or access to tangible benefits (e.g., resources, power). The resultant increase, however mild, in positive reactions among minorities and continuing positive reactions among majorities should render the group changed via tolerance stronger than its counterpart changed via conversion (Hypothesis 3, see Agenda item 3). Majority and minority influence: A single process, in Group Consensus and Minority Influence: Implications for Innovation. Psychol. For example, minorities motivated to be socially validated and those motivated to gain social control are likely to pursue social change seeking converts to their position to transform themselves to a majority (minority majority). 93, 2332. J. Pers. The reasons for this development are complex. Learn to read and understand body signals and improve your own body language. Soc. WebMultiple Choice It is thought that automatic mimicry of others occurs because of the principle of ________,which states that merely thinking about a behavior makes performing that behavior more likely. Even though it promoted the rights of a minority of the population, the movement helped to end public segregation based on race with the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. L. Berkowitz (New York: Academic Press), 209239. Consistency in these findings about the reciprocity of social influence suggests that majorities are able to influence not only because they have social support as an argument, as it is axiomatically discussed in the social influence literature, but also because social support enables them to generate convincing arguments. It is possible that we are now in the process of similarly altering our conception of whiteness again. The number of members within a group expressing a minority opinion also affects the level of influence that they are able to exert on the remaining members. F. Butera and J. Levine (New York: Cambridge University Press), 202221. The many reasons behind minorities pursuit of social change could be broadly recognized as seeking social validation, social control, or social acceptance. 79, 385397. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.71.6.1181, Keywords: minority influence, social change, social influence, majority influence, group dynamics, Citation: Prislin R (2022) Minority Influence: An Agenda for Study of Social Change. Yet, no amount of normative or pragmatic pressure can extinguish minorities. R. Martin and M. Hewstone (New York: Psychology Press), 229262. Soc. Bulletin Swisse des Psychologues 7, 36. eds. Eur. Pers. Psychol. A., and Mugny, G. (1996). When accompanied with a sense of group efficacy, they fuel social actions aimed as social change that will improve minority (disadvantaged) groups conditions (for review, see van Zomeren, 2015, see also Klandermans, 1997). C. K. de Dreu and N. K. de Vries (Oxford, UK: Blackwell), 91121. 88, 438453. Minority Influence and Innovation: Antecedents, Processes, and Consequences. In the subsequent decades, scores of studies have tested (Wood et al., 1994), expanded (Nemeth and Walacher, 1983; De Dreu and West, 2001), and challenged (Latan and Wolf, 1981; Tanford and Penrod, 1984) Moscovicis ideas. Tight cultures differ from loose cultures in that they. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.68.1.5. This shows that a consistent minority is 6.95% more effective than an inconsistent minority and that consistency is an important factor in minority influence. Note: It is important to note that consistency and commitment are linked. If a minority is consistent in their view then they also are showing commitment to their cause. eds. doi: 10.1016/0022-1031(86)90022-3. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Psychol. J. M. Levine and M. A. Hogg (Sage), 566570. Consider various human rights groups in history and in the present (civil rights movement in the 60s, LGBT rights, women's voting rights, Black Lives Matter, etc.). Rev. Differential contributions of majority and minority influence. Dynamics of change: Minority influence makes the world go around, in Minority Influence and Innovation: Antecedents, Processes and Consequences. Whereas turning opponents to supporters appeared to make successful minorities smarter, successfully retaining initially won support did not affect successful majoritys persuasibility. Course Hero is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university. Majority influence, for instance, is a normative influence, leading to individuals complying with the norms of the majority. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. Unlike compliance, where a person changes his or her outward behavior but not their private opinions, minority influence can have a lasting effect on an individuals views and behavior even when they leave the group. 28, 640647. Whereas numerous other factors may be proposed, they likely covary with the included factors of time, competitive influence dynamics, and motivation. Soc. The conflict elaboration theory of social influence, in Understanding Group Behavior: Small Group Processes and Interpersonal Relations. *Correspondence: Radmila Prislin, rprislin@sdsu.edu, New Advances in Social Influence: Theoretical Insights and Methodological Challenges, View all
To understand social change, it is necessary to study influence efforts as they occur over time, in dynamic exchanges between group factions, which seek to influence for various reasons. In these lines of research, group-level outcomes (e.g., consensual decisions, problem solving) are of focal interest, with minority influence being one of the multitude of processes underlying such outcomes. C. K. de Dreu and N. K. de Vries (Oxford, UK: Blackwell), 229257. The resulting backlash created a wave of support for the xenophobic Know Nothing movement and its nativist American Party. eds. Also, the authors own line of research on group dynamics in the aftermath of social change could be added to this minority category in that its focus on group dynamics is underrepresented in minority influence research (Prislin, 2010; Prislin et al., 2017). Minoritys success at effecting social change and ipso facto, majoritys failure to prevent it, should influence not only their reactions toward the group but also their capacity to further argue their positions. Privacy & Cookies
Minorities who accept rather than challenge the status quo, so long as they themselves are not challenged, are a minority within the minority world. eds. Bull. While conformity involves pressure from the majority on an individual, minority influence puts pressure on the majority. However, as pointed out by Levine and Tindale (2015), the overall findings suggest that in those rare circumstances when minorities do prevail, they tend do so through informational processes, by forcing a majority to question the validity of its position. (2007). Similarly, reactions to social influence are typically assessed once at a single point in time. Gordijn, E. H., de Vries, N. K. and de Dreu, C. K. W. (2002). Lateral attitude change. P. van Lange, A. W. Kruglanski, and E. T. Higgins (Los Angeles: Sage), 362378. 42, 2530. The truth is, just as populations in the United States ebb and flow, the salience of racial and ethnic identities emerges and disappears. Hewstone, M., and Martin, R. (2010). Social influence can take numerous forms. Pers. Conversion vs. tolerance: minority-focused influence strategies can affect group loyalty. Prislin, R., and Wood, W. (2005). A final observation regarding minority influence is that, after being successfully persuaded by a minority, people tend to forget the origins of their new views. This phenomenon, known as social cryptomnesia, often occurs when a person held negative views of the minority whose views they adopted. Soc. Moscovici, S., and Faucheux, C. (1972). Learn to interpret the hidden meanings behind the themes of your dreams and nightmares. Lest we succumb to the same trap, it is worth remembering that every social change, including those that turned disastrous for the world (e.g., Nazi movement), was originated by a minority. J. Soc. A theoretical framework for understanding character judgments of vegan advocates. Changing majority and minority positions within a group vs. an aggregate. Because of the vital role social support plays in sustaining any argued position (Prislin and Wood, 2005), gaining social support by virtue of social change (minority majority) should increase a successful minoritys capacity to continue to advocate their position. M. P. Zanna (New York: Elsevier), 237326. Does brainwashing really exist and how has it been used? Rev. As stated earlier, every social change is initially a minoritys idea.6 To understand motives behind minorities pursuit of social change, it is useful to compare their position to that of their majority counterparts. 83, 10951102. Yet, the prevailing research on minority influence seems to have made it so. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.74.6.1437, David, B., and Turner, J. C. (1996). A. Simpson and D. T. Kendrick (Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum), 307343. Here are some tips. Psychol. The former two motives can be satisfied by recruiting converts to the minority position. J. Exp. Indeed, it is part of the social psychology canon as evident by its coverage in nearly all social psychology textbooks, handbooks (e.g., Nemeth, 2012; Butera et al., 2017), and encyclopedias (e.g., Crano, 2010). Psychol. Espousing a behavioral style characterized by temporal consistency, internal consensus, and autonomy and investment in their position, even at the price of reprisals, minorities present a force to be reconed with. F. Butera and J. M. Levine (Cambridge University Press), 333353. London: Academic Press. Soc. Cultural drift, indirect minority influence, network structure, and their impacts on cultural change and diversity. Minority influence is a type of social influence which results in a change ofviews amongstthe majority of members within a group. The need to belong: desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. (2001). Charlan Nemeth, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, argues a further difference between minority and majority influence. Provide examples. In contrast, losing social support by virtue of social change (majority minority) should adversely affect a failed majoritys capacity to further advocate their position. 14. ed. For example, employees at a factory which uses dated practises to produce its wares may be reluctant to change their habits. Three concepts: minority, conflict, and behavioral style, in Minority Influence. Since majorities are often unconcerned about what minorities think about them, minority influence is thus rarely based on normative social influence. Being in a minority is a social condition, often characterized by adverse outcomes, tangible and intangible alike (for review, see Prislin and Christensen, 2005a). S. Papastamou, A. Gardikiotis, and G. Prodromitis (London: Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group), 173197. How the life changes caused by experiencing major events can affect stress levels. Soc. The rise of research on minority influence coincided with the cognitive orientation in social psychology. Butera, F., and Levine, J. M. Moscovici, S. (1976). Despite notable growth in the non-White eligible voter population, non-Hispanic White voters still made up the large majority (67%) of the U.S. electorate in Social change in the aftermath of successful minority influence. According to reactance theory.
Studies done in this tradition have generated valuable insights into the nature and outcomes of minority influence, specifying conditions under which a minority exerts influence and the processing underlying such influence. Moscovici found that the minority view expressed by the confederates influenced the participants opinions, particularly when the minority was consistent in its opinion (Moscovici et al, 1969). doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.83.5.1095, Prislin, R., and Christensen, P. N. (2005a). The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Conversion and tolerance are fundamentally distinct paths to social change with different consequences for group dynamics (Prislin et al., 2018). Prislin, R., Crowder, M., and Donnelly, K. (2017). Over time, however, successful minoritys initial tepid reactions should increase in positivity if their newly won majority position stabilizes within the group (Hypothesis 1, see below Agenda item 1). This private conversion may cautiously be communicated to others, thus, gradually becoming public. However, if we are to overcome the division that defined our past, we must stop reinforcing the salience of those boundaries in the future. 95, 189225. So a 51 percent pan-minority share is unlikely to yield any new majority status without a new pan-ethnic sense of community. Why do people to conform in groups? She suggests that the result of minority influence, when compared to majority influence, is that the former nurtures divergent thinking, whereas compliance with the demands of the majority reduces differences in opinion amongst a groups members (Nemeth, 1986). J. Pers. (1989). Integration or acceptance presumes integration with others into the same category, not giving in to others to join their category (Brewer, 1991). doi: 10.1177/1088868314546489, Gruenfeld, D. H. (1995). Only by incorporating a time perspective in our research can these variations be captured (Arrow et al., 2000). J. Appl. Social influence in groups, in Group Processes. doi: 10.1111/josi.12259, Prislin, R., and Filson, J. How ingratiation techniques are used to persuade people. A rare empirical study of the dynamic nature of social influence focused on reciprocity of influence. A look at how social influence affects opinions and behavior. When a significant number of majority members publicly acknowledge their adoption of the minority position, a new norm is created, effectively turning the initial minority into the majority and vice versa. When successful, these minorities redefine what is acceptable within groups boundaries. Majority influence occurs when the beliefs held by the larger number of individuals in the current social group prevail. Jung, J., Bramson, A., Crano, W. D., Page, S. E., and Miller, J. H. (2021). people should benefit those who benefit them. Jury trials: psychology and law, in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. Whilst minority influence has led to their internalisation of environmentalist ideas, they reject the notion that the group was responsible for their new recycling routine and maintain a negative view of the minority group. Psychol. Paicheler, G., and Flath, E. (1988). The findings suggest that the perceived confidence of a minority to make decisions independently of the group can lead to other individuals giving more consideration to its views. How do they shape their influence strategies over time? (eds.) 97, 811822. Int. doi: 10.1037/amp0000844. doi: 10.1080/14792779108401862. There is likely no better contemporary example of the power of minorities to instigate social change than a growing recognition of the urgent need for the humankind to address the cause and impacts of climate change. But whilst peer pressure leads to public compliance (e.g. What causes us to obey to authority figures such as police, teachers and 2023 Psychologist World. J. Pers. Vol. A final observation regarding minority influence is that, after being successfully persuaded by a minority, people tend to forget the origins of their new views. Minority influence: A meta-analytical review of social influence processes. The social impact of majorities and minorities. (2010). The newly established more inclusive group standard encompasses both minorities and majorities as constitutive elements of the group, representing a gain for the former at no cost for the latter. S. Moscovici, A. Muchi-Faina, and A. Maas (Chicago: Nelson-Hall), 233251. Manage. Psychol. Turning, or rather, returning to the original observation that the raison dtre for minority influence is social change points to a promising direction. It cannot be a goal in and of itself. Successful conversion of a sufficient number of group members to the minority position reverses positions (majority minority), representing a loss for the former majority and a gain for the former minority. Albert Bandura's influential Bobo doll experiments reveal how children imitate TV violence and the behavior of others. 86, 11911201. Vol. Soc. Rather, I am arguing that we should place far less stock in the importance of the results to the future of our country. A minority opinion is also termed dissenting Social influence is the perpetual competition that shapes social relations by targeting social attitudes.
Thank You Email For Extending Contract,
Paul Merriman 4 Fund Portfolio Vanguard,
I Will Never Be Good Enough For You Encanto,
Articles M