minorities influence majority opinion primarily through
And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com. If you're one of the many people who gets stressed out when it comes to taking exams then we have a few tips for you that will help you to overcome this and really concentrating on achieving good grades. Soc. His book with a telling title Social influence and social change (Moscovici, 1976) emphasized the role minorities have historically played in instigating political, scientific, religious, and artistic change. New York: Psychology Press. In government, lobbyists representing a minority such as a company, charity or trade body seek to influence the views of legislators by publishing research which supports the interests of that minority. 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. The many advantages associated with majority positions, along with the many disadvantages associated with minority positions (for reviews, see Prislin and Wood, 2005; Prislin and Christensen, 2005a), fuel minorities attempts at social change. 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). A minority group, led by Emmeline Pankhurst in the UK, eventually persuaded the majority that this was unfair, and enfranchisement was extended to women in 1918, overturning accepted views regarding womens rights. Consensual Action by Small Groups. Minority influence: From groups to attitudes and back again, in Minority Influence and Innovation: Antecedents, Processes and Consequences. (eds.) When successful, these minorities redefine what is acceptable within groups boundaries. In a test of the above-mentioned hypothesis 2, variations in minority and majority sources persuasibility were examined as a function of their targets responsiveness to their influence appeals (Prislin et al., 2011). Itslike in the Milgramstudies in which people were less Pers. Variables which affect the efficacy of minority influence include: Moscovici found that members of a group are more likely to accept the opinion of a minority if the view is expressed with consistency. Psychol. In contrast to these sources, those who were consistently rejected to remain in a minority, as well as those who lost social support to be turned from a majority to a minority (majority minority), lost much of their persuasive efficacy over time. But by the time Americas initial majority minority milestone would have been reached, whiteness had been reinterpreted to incorporate the Irish, Italians, Jews and Slavs, such that the milestone was effectively postponed. Sindhi Muslims had a much larger majority of about seventy-4 percent. Rev. 22, 177189. J. Pers. Therefore, the minority is unable to exert a normative influence on other members. J. Soc. Front. 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. The need to belong: desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Discover your Freudian personality type with our Fixation Test. eds. Majority and Minority Influence: Societal Meaning and Cognitive Elaboration, London, Routledge: Taylor & Francis. Participants were instructed to sit around a table to discuss the compensation amount, either in seats which were grouped, or in a solitary seat at the head of the table. doi: 10.1111/sipr.12072. Taking the number of published studies as a readily available, however imperfect, indicator of vigor, the findings are telling. (2000). J. M. Levine (New York: Psychology Press), 135163. Through a historical lens, being white in America today is like belonging to a once-exclusive social club that had to loosen its membership criteria to stay afloat. The acts of claiming and developing land and defending it against the forces of nature all constituted rites of passage that transformed foreigners into Americans. Being in a minority is a social condition, often characterized by adverse outcomes, tangible and intangible alike (for review, see Prislin and Christensen, 2005a). M. B. Minority influence and climate change. (1974). Nemeth, C. J. Opin. In his narrative histories published from 1885 to 1894, Roosevelt argued that as European immigrants were assimilated, their heritages were being absorbed into the American body, fusing Americans into a single people forged in the crucible of the frontier. Turning, or rather, returning to the original observation that the raison dtre for minority influence is social change points to a promising direction. Echterhoff, G., and Higgins, T. E. (2017). Prez, J. 35, 179199. As an illustration of the epistemic value of the time perspective approach to understanding the consequences of successful minority influence, and a test of the above-mentioned Hypothesis 1, consider a longitudinal study that examined reactions of a minority faction within a group who successfully converted a sufficient number of majority members to its position to effectively turn themselves into a new majority and ipso facto, the former majority into a new minority (Prislin and Christensen, 2005b, Study 2). M. Mikulincer and P. R. Shaver (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association), 334. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.83.5.1095, Prislin, R., and Christensen, P. N. (2005a). Because of the status white people retain in American society, a degree of privilege and belonging still awaits those who can claim it. The latter strategies are especially likely in the cases of mutual interdependence between majorities and minorities. Soc. 83, 10951102. From majority to minority and vice versa: The asymmetrical effects of losing and gaining majority position within a group. And in subsequent decades, the United States admitted millions of Italians, Jews and other ethnicities, with their foreign languages, religions and complexions. eds. doi: 10.1111/josi.12259, Prislin, R., and Filson, J. Several integrative models profitably combine the information processing and social identity approaches, capitalizing on their complementary strengths (Prez and Mugny, 1996; Crano, 2001). (1983). J. Appl. Social change in the aftermath of successful minority influence. 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. (1998). Rev. doi: 10.1177/1948550610377238, Prislin, R., Brewer, M., and Wilson, D. J. Decision making, in Group Processes. Prislin, R., and Wood, W. (2005). A minority opinion is also termed dissenting WebContends that in most studies comparing majority and minority influence, there is an emphasis on influence in the sense of prevailing. Tindale, R. S., Talbot, M., and Martinez, R. (2013). Even a revolutionary change progresses to its culminating tipping point after a period of build-up that requires time. Similar asymmetry but in the opposite direction has been documented in distribution of social burdens (e.g., illnesses, crime), which are heavier on minorities than majorities. Minority influence research was sparked by Moscovicis observation about the power of active minorities to instigate social change. Soc. 4. Given the racialized nature of our political parties, it also has electoral consequences. Since then, for a certain subset of Americans, each annual release by the bureau neutral, nonpartisan researchers who produce deliberately staid reports has become a sort of countdown to the white apocalypse. In an experiment in which participants were asked to debate issues such as abortion, they found a negative correlation between the number of members holding a majority view and the sway held by minority views. (2002). A., and Mugny, G. (1996). 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). 115, 323345. Moscovici, S., and Prez, J. Smith, C. M., and Diven, P. J. Minority Influence on Focal and Related Attitudes: Change in Size, Attributions, and Information Processing. Soc. Soc. C. K. de Dreu and N. K. de Vries (Oxford, UK: Blackwell), 4059. A theoretical framework for understanding character judgments of vegan advocates. Psychol. J. Soc. Yet, answering some questions, including those about minority influence in generating social change, requires just such kind of research. Small Groups as Complex Systems: Formation, Coordination, Development, and Adaptation. The unknown of the new position, it was hypothesized, was largely due to the seemingly contradictory meaning of the conversion or former opponents sway to the minority position that underlies social change. Contends that in most studies comparing majority and minority influence, there is an emphasis on influence in the sense of prevailing. Within this context, evidence exists that majorities exert more public influence and that minority influence, when it occurs, tends to operate primarily at the latent level. ^Social influence research has traditionally assumed that a motive for social acceptance underlies yielding to social influence (Deutsch and Gerard, 1955), not exerting social influence. 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. 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. Moscovici, S. (1994). R. Martin and M. Hewstone (New York: Psychology Press), 363394. WebMAJORITY If the minority can get a few people to defect to their side, then this will often create a snowball effect in which more and more people will change their opinion. Minorities influence majority opinion primarily through. Take our 5-minute anger test to find out if you're angry! Thus, immediately in the aftermath of social change whereby minorities become majorities and vice versa (minority majority), the former should react only mildly positively, and the latter should react intensely negatively, toward the group in which they switched positions. Struggle to keep conversations alive? They have been conducted within the framework of the gain-loss asymmetry model of change in minority and majority positions (Prislin and Christensen, 2005a). Soc. Clark and Maass (1990) found that the size of the majority within a group can affect the ability of a minority to influence members. For instance, a politician who alters his or her stance on an issue may be less effective in convincing the electorate than a candidate who expresses just one view consistently. Shafer, E. S., and Prislin, R. (2011). Soc. Soc. The challenge may be great but not insurmountable. Minority influence and political interest groups, in The Social Psychology of Politics. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8309.1996.tb01091.x. At what point in time do their efforts begin to effect the presumed private change? The complexity of these asymmetries suggests multiple specific motives behind minorities pursuit of social change. WebA minority opinion is an opinion by one or more judges in a legal case who disagree with the decision reached by the majority. M. P. Zanna (New York: Elsevier), 237326. ^Search was performed using the following key words: minority influence, defiance, deviance, innovation, social influence and change/effect/impact. Yet, for their initial sense of correctness to survive, minorities must seek broader social support. Oxford, UK: Blackwell. Rather, it has focused dominantly on the cognitive processes and attitudinal change in response to a minority advocacy or minority mere presence, and, to a lesser degree, to the role of minority influence in decision-making and task groups. According to reactance theory. The idea of minority influence is now a defining aspect in all conceptualizations of social influence, researched in parallel with majority influence (for reviews, see Prislin and Wood, 2005; Levine and Prislin, 2013). R. M. Sorentino and E. T. Higgins (New York: Guilford Press), 2884. Psychol. Gordijn et al (2002) found that a minority was less influential when the number of members expressing an opinion remained constant or decreased, compared to when members perceived the minority to be increasing in numbers. Vol. At the same time, their behavior style invites an attributional analysis that forces a majority to consider the merits of the minoritys non-normative position. (1989). doi: 10.1177/1368430210395636. Papastamou, S., Gardikiotis, A., and Prodromitis, G. 19, 257276. 74, 14371450. Elites efforts at influence are likely to be directed toward preserving, not changing, the status quo. F. Butera and J. M. Levine (Cambridge University Press), 333353. This unidirectional conceptualization postulated influence as flowing exclusively from a majority to a minority. Psychol. Minority and majority influence in freely interacting groups: qualitative versus quantitative differences. Minorities who accept rather than challenge the status quo, so long as they themselves are not challenged, are a minority within the minority world. All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. 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. Psychol. Psychol. *Correspondence: Radmila Prislin, rprislin@sdsu.edu, New Advances in Social Influence: Theoretical Insights and Methodological Challenges, View all Give three examples of how the media can shape our conception of social reality? Leffet de cryptomnsie sociale [The social cryptomnesia effect]. These are but some of the important questions that await answers. (2010). For example, employees at a factory which uses dated practises to produce its wares may be reluctant to change their habits. A rare empirical study of the dynamic nature of social influence focused on reciprocity of influence. 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. Social influence model: A formal integration of research on majority and minority influence processes. A history of social influence research, in The Handbook of the History of Social Psychology. No group goes extinct or disappears; it just gets absorbed into new ways that people define community and feel belonging. His subsequent conversion theory (Moscovici, 1980) focused exclusively on cognitive processes underlying minority vs. majority influence and the resultant nature of attitudinal (not social!) Cultural drift, indirect minority influence, network structure, and their impacts on cultural change and diversity. Crano, W. D. (2010). This may explain the snowball effect of minority influence, whereby individuals are attracted to a viewpoint on the basis that they believe it is becoming more acceptable, and is gaining popularity amongst other members. They exist in research on minority influence, too. J. M. Levine and M. A. Hogg (Sage), 566570. Underreported, the number of mixed-race Americans increased nearly threefold in the past decade alone; 80 percent of intermarriages in the United States today unite non-Hispanic white partners with members of an ethnic or a racial minority. (1955). It was this insight into the role of minorities that made Moscovici a luminary in social psychology. A social norm that reflects how things are typically done is considered ________, whereas a social norm that reflects what behaviors are approved is considered ________. (1981). The reasons for a paucity of longitudinal studies are many. From marginal to mainstream and vice versa: Leaders valuation of diversity while in the minority versus majority. eds. (2017). Erb, H-P., and Bohner, G. (2001). Dr. Gest is a political scientist who studies and writes about immigration, nativism and demographic change. Two lines of research: One on group decision-making, and another on the impact that newcomers to groups make, provide alternative approaches to the study of minority influence.4 Within these lines of research, minority influence is addressed in the context of interacting groups, with minority and majority positions publicly advocated and hence, memberships in minority and majority factions actively experienced. Psychol. Yet, maturity appears to come at the expense of vigor. For him, the new ethnicities admitted into the United States were not entitled to their American identity; it was to be earned. 40. ed. doi: 10.1016/0022-1031(86)90022-3. 31, 595609. This socio-cognitive conflict may be resolved over time such that some majority members privately adopt the minority position. Albert Bandura's influential Bobo doll experiments reveal how children imitate TV violence and the behavior of others. In contrast, minority influence occurs In what follows, the importance of these factors is discussed and illustrated by a few initial explorations. The dynamic nature of this process is additionally evident in its competitive nature as minorities and majorities contest each other while advancing their own position. Social influence exerted by minorities motivated by social control may differ from social influence exerted by their validation-motivated and acceptance-motivated counterparts. M. Mikulincer and P. R. Shafer, (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association), 507533. How the life changes caused by experiencing major events can affect stress levels. Rather, it signifies their under-representation in the mainstream (i.e., information-processing) considerations of minority influence. 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). Self-definition, defensive processing, and influence: The normative impact of majority and minority groups. (1986). C. K. de Dreu and N. K. de Vries (Oxford, UK: Blackwell), 91121. Revels in Groups: Dissent, Deviance, Difference, and Defiance. Terrorism as a tactic of minority influence, in Coping With Minority Status: Responses to Exclusion and Inclusion. J. Pers. Abrams, D., and Hogg, M. A. Regarding the social validation motive, minorities, of course, must have an initial sense of correctness in order to start exerting influence (Prislin and Christensen, 2009). The effects of this social change on the new majoritys reactions toward the group in which they prevailed were assessed immediately after the change, and one-, two-, three-, four- and five-weeks after the change. J. Soc. L. Berkowitz (New York: Academic Press), 149202. doi: 10.1080/10463280440000071, Prislin, R., and Christensen, P. N. (2005b). Psychol. Group conversion versus group expansion as modes of change in majority and minority positions: All losses hurt but only some gains gratify. How do they shape their influence strategies over time? This research has also documented many contingencies for such impact, including newcomers and the existing group members idiosyncratic and shared characteristics (for reviews, see Levine and Prislin, 2013; Levine and Tindale, 2015). For all their valuable insights into an individuals cognitive responses to a minority advocacy, these approaches are not very informative about the role of minority influence in instigating social change.
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