Minority influence: the power of consistency

Although social influence is often associated with pressure from the majority to conform, minorities can also exert significant influence and bring about changes in majority attitudes and behaviors.

However, for a minority to be influential, it must adopt certain strategies, with consistency in its stance being one of the most important.

The Challenge of Minority Influence

Minorities, by definition, lack the numerical power and often the status or resources of the majority.

Therefore, their ability to influence is not based on normative pressure (the desire to be accepted by the majority group), but rather on the ability to generate cognitive conflict in the majority and persuade them through informational influence, leading to a reevaluation of one's stance.

Consistency as a Key Factor (Serge Moscovici)

Serge Moscovici, a social psychologist who extensively researched minority influence, arguing that consistency is the most crucial factor for a minority to exert influence. This involves two aspects:

• Synchronous (Intra-individual) Consistency: The minority must maintain a unified and consistent stance among its members. If there are internal divisions or contradictions within the minority's message, its credibility and ability to influence diminish.

• Diachronic (Inter-individual) Consistency: The minority must maintain its stance firmly and persistently over time. If you constantly change your mind or easily cave in to majority pressure, you won't be taken seriously.

A minority that presents a consistent, unified message, and that defends it convincingly despite opposition, can cause the majority to begin to doubt its own position and to consider the minority perspective.

1.1.3 Mechanisms of Minority Influence

Minority influence often operates through a validation process, where the majority is led to examine the minority's arguments more closely because its consistent, dissenting position attracts attention and breaks the consensus.

This can lead to more divergent and creative thinking on the part