Minority Influence: The Power of the Few

Galileo insisted that planets revolve around the sun rather than the earth Dr. Martin Luther King ensured that the civil right movement succeeded through application of non violent methods Sigmon Freud rebuked his critics of his theory of psychoanalysis till it was accepted by many Igor Stravinsky was denounced as a musical heretic, but he refused to change a note

Conversion theory of minority influence

Majority influence occurs when people conform to certain beliefs and behaviours in order to be accepted by others. Minorities influence through validation process. By presenting information that the majority does not know or expect, this new or unexpected information catches the attention of the majority to carefully consider and examine the minority's view. Validation leads to making minorities a source of innovation in groups.

Predicting Minority Influence

Consistency and Influence: A consistent minority is an influential one. Idiosyncrasy Credits: The positive impressions of a person held by others The Diligence of Dissenters: Unique influence of minority lies in the quality of their argumentation Decision Rules and Dissent: It helps the minority when the group needs to take a unanimous decision.

Dynamic Social Impact

Consolidation: As individuals interact with each other, their actions, attitudes become more uniform. Clustering: People are more influenced by their closest neighbours Correlation: Opinions on variety of issues tend to converge Continuing Diversity: Members of minorities are often shielded from influence attempts of majority