Minority Influence Versus Individual Influence

Social Influence – Minority Influence

In this course, Professor Gordon Sammut (London School of Economics) explores minority influence. In the first lecture, we think about contrasting the influence of a minority to that of a lone individual. In the second lecture, we think about the concept of a minority presenting a legitimate alternative to the current way of thinking/acting. In the third lecture, we think about some minority influence processes, including three strategies of consistency, commitment, and flexibility. Next, we think about some key experimental evidence for minority influence. In the fifth and final lecture, we think about some ways in which majority and minority influence may or may not be differentiated.

Minority Influence Versus Individual Influence

In this lecture, we think about contrasting minority influence with lone individuals who attempt to bring about change, focusing in particular on: (i) the initial assumption by the majority, upon a lone individual resisting the view of that majority, that it cannot be the case that the lone individual is right and everyone else is wrong; (ii) the infectious nature of support for a viewpoint, suggesting that a lone individual would be much better served seeking some additional support, rather than continuing to promote their viewpoint alone; (iii) the two-fold task of minority influence being the resistance to conformity and to influence the majority; (iv) the phenomenon that the most reasoned or evidenced argument will not necessarily be the winner, but instead the argument which ‘pitched’ in the most effective manner; (v) minority influence conceptualised as the recruitment of new supporters over time by converting members of the majority into that minority.