Compare And Contrast Majority Influence And Minority Influence

Comparing and contrasting majority influence and minority influence
Majority influence is usually thought to produce public conformity, a good example of majority influence in how people behave in the society, In our daily lives, we involuntarilyfollow others so that we can fit in even if we disagree in private, this is also known as normative influence (Manstead & Hewstone, 1996).People comply to others to avoid conflicts, blend and integrate well with the rest, even if it means that they act in ways that are inconsistent with their beliefs.
On the other hand, minority influence results in conversion. Minorities need to behave in certain ways in order to convince and influence other people. Accoding to Moscovici, minorities behavioural style
is important to influence through Kelley's Attribution Theory (1967), one of the key attributes is they need to be consistent to be able to stand out and attract attention from the majority (Hogg & Tinsdale, 2001).It is important that the minorities remain consistent in order for the majorities to consider or take notice and consider their views.
Research has shown that majority influence often results in Compliance, conformity or Obedience. People respond in a positive way and agree with the majority in public but may not agree privately. People are easily influenced by the presence of other people’s attitudes and behaviours. In our daily lives how many times have we agreed to something just to avoid conflict, to get along with others or not face prejudismsm? Giving in to majorities according to Solomon Asch (1951, 1956), we easily yield to Conformity.
Researcher has shown that minority need consistency and does not need to be flexible in behaviour.Lack of consistence in minorities will have no effect (Hewstone & Stroebe, 2001). Minorities lack public conformity and social support, compared to the majority who has strong public influence (Moscovici, Mugny & Avermaet, 1985).

Majorities produce conformity through normative social influence. A study by Nemeth believe show that minorities help majorities to think divergently rather than convergently. Minorities stimulate more cognitive effort and that their ways of thinking are more divergent compared to majorities. Minorities usually produce personal acceptance in which the individual privately agrees with the minority. Research

Moscovici’s conversion theory of minority influence began as a minority opinion that was rejected by many researchers, but eventually members of opposition validated it, thus confirming the theory’s exact predictions. Asch’s studies highlighted the power that majorities have over groups and their subsequent conformity, but Moscovici was more interested in the power exerted by minorities

Conversion Theory is Serge Moscovici's conceptual analysis of the cognitive and interpersonal processes that mediate the direct and indirect impact of a consistent minority on the majority (Moscovici, 1976.
Normative influence - Conform to the positive expectations of others to gain social approval or avoid social disapproval .

A study by Jenness (1932) individuals were asked to provide estimation…. And then the same individuals were asked to provide an estimation in a group, then asked to review their original estimation, and whether they
Would like to change it or not and nearly everyone change their estimation closer to the group, this shows that individuals are more likely to change their opinion while in groups

Below table gives a summary of comparison and contrast between majority influence and minority influence.
Majority influence Minority infuence influences are intensified by their group size influence is distinguished in the way that the minority behaves. influence is usually thought to produce public conformity Minorities often deal with the problem of a lack of public conformity and social support majority have strong public influence It is essential for minority to remain consistent in order to be successful majority influence is qualitatively minority influence results in conversion
Focus on relationship to majority (Interpersonal) Focus on the message itself superficial examination of arguments detailed evaluation More public/direct influence, easier to see takes longer to manifest superficial examination of arguments detailed evaluation

Conversion theory explains how the minority’s behavioural style influence the majority, but does not explain the cognitive processes of how the majority process the minority message
Majority influence • Direct public compliance • Involves comparison
Process – Pay attention to what other say to fit in • Accepted passively
• Little or no private attitude change • Minority influence
• Indirect, latent, private changes • Cognitive conflict and
Restructuring • Validation process – Examine and think about the validity of our beliefs • Little/no overt public agreement (fear of being seen as minority) • Some private change that may surface later

Conclusion
From studies it has shown that majorities……
Although the minority group may not have a large number of people in their group, its consistent behavioural style makes it influential, which makes the majority take notice of them and rethink.
There has been much debate over whether minority and majority influence are two separate processes or a single process. Research has shown that minority and majority influence differ by cognitive processes and attitude.
On the other hand, the theory that minority and majority influences are a single process is supported by the fact that both the majority and minority groups influences are intensified by their group size. There are adequate qualitative outcomes to sustain the theoretical distinction between them (Brown,
2000).
Research has shown that minorities produces conversion or internalisation which is a change in private opinion that is deep and long lasting, as shown in Moscovici and Personnaz (1980) which can be successfully achieved by adopting some main behavioural styles such as consistency (Moscovici, Lage & Naffrechoux, 1969). Unlike minorities, majorities have the advantage of being able to influence from the start. But after some time to consider minority view, many move towards thinking more about that view and ultimately may start believing it themselves (Nemeth, Swedlund & Kanki, 1974).
Majority influence can lead to people thinking in more limited ways and less likely to solve tasks than when influenced by a minority group which encourages people to think more widely and use alternative methods (Nemeth, 1986). Interestingly, people are more likely to solve problems correctly of minority opinion is wrong.