Majority and Minority Influence

The study of minority influence has advanced considerably since the late 1960s when Moscovici's pioneering efforts brought the minority's role in the process of persuasion and social influence to the forefront. Moscovici's (1980) insight that the underlying processes of majority and minority influence are quite different has been supported, but the steady pace of research has uncovered various unanticipated findings not easily explained by his conversion theory. In this review, we track recent developments and debates in the field, and consider some major explanatory models of minority influence and their differential postulates regarding cognitive processing and attitude change. We pay particular attention to Crano's (2001 ) leniency contract model, which details the specific conditions under which majorities and minorities impart influence. Finally, we advance some novel postulates regarding the persuasive impact of out-group minorities.     

Minority Influence,Social Change,and Social Stability

From Moscovici (Social influence and social change. London, Academic Press; 1976) on, a growing body of research on minority influence has been conducted within the social psychology mainstream. A general guideline of most of the research on this topic associates minority influence with social change and innovation. Minorities have been considered as challengers to social stability, and their dynamics have been considered in relation to the mechanisms through which social changes occur and established norms are modified and evolve in human society. In the present paper, we try to extend this viewpoint by suggesting that it represents only one side of a much more complex story. We consider the conditions under which minorities produce social change as well as the conditions under which they are, instead, inclined to defend the status quo. We then suggest that an integrative account of different approaches – namely, social identity, social dominance, and system justification – might contribute to expanding the theoretical frame of minority influence.     

Minority Influence, Divergent Thinking and Detection of Correct Solutions

In many applied settings involving influence processes in small groups, the interest is in how such processes aid or hinder effective decision making and problem solving. In a recent formulation, Nemeth (1986) argued that exposure to opposing views emanating from a minority leads to divergent thinking, a process that involves a consideration of the problem from varying viewpoints. On balance, such influence would aid performance. Exposure to opposing majority viewpoints leads to convergent thought where S s presumably concentrate on the proposed viewpoint to the exclusion of other considerations. On balance, this form of influence tends not to aid performance and may prove to be an impediment. In the present study, these hypotheses were tested in the context of anagram solutions. Results showed that subjects exposed to the minority viewpoint found more correct words and they achieved this superior performance by a usage of all possible strategies. Subjects exposed to the majority viewpoint initially used the strategy suggested by the majority to the detriment of other strategies and, in general, performed at the level of control subjects. These results are discussed in terms of potential contributions made by exposure to dissenting minority viewpoints in small group decision-making settings such as trial by jury and in society at large.     

Individualism-Collectivism as a Boundary Condition for Effectiveness of Minority Influence in Decision Making

Results of this experiment demonstrate that individualists and collectivists react differently to minority influence. Based on the distinction between objectivity and preference norms in the minority influence literature, we hypothesize that individualism and collectivism influence (A) responses to minority influence (focusing on the target of influence) and (B) effectiveness of minority influence (focusing on the influence agent). Our results replicate past research and demonstrate improved decision quality for individuals exposed to a minority perspective. Moreover, minority influence targets with high horizontal individualism and low horizontal collectivism made higher quality decisions. Influence targets with high vertical collectivism demonstrated higher quality decisions when the influence agent held a high status position in the group. Results also demonstrate that influence agents with high vertical individualism experienced less role stress than those with low vertical individualism. Finally, influence agents with low role stress were more effective in influencing the decision making of others. We discuss our findings in terms of boundary conditions to the minority influence process.     

Toward a Model of Social Influence that Explains Minority Student Integration into the Scientific Community

Students from several ethnic minority groups are underrepresented in the sciences, such that minority students more frequently drop out of the scientific career path than non-minority students. Viewed from a perspective of social influence, this pattern suggests that minority students do not integrate into the scientific community at the same rate as non-minority students. Kelman (1958, 2006) describes a tripartite integration model of social influence (TIMSI) by which a person orients to a social system. To test if this model predicts integration into the scientific community, we conducted analyses of data from a national panel of minority science students. A structural equation model framework showed that self-efficacy (operationalized consistent with Kelman's 'rule-orientation') predicted student intentions to pursue a scientific career. However, when identification as a scientist and internalization of values are added to the model, self-efficacy becomes a poorer predictor of intention. Additional mediation analyses support the conclusion that while having scientific self-efficacy is important, identifying with and endorsing the values of the social system reflect a deeper integration and more durable motivation to persist as a scientist.     

Minority influence and social categorization

In this article, a theoretical distinction is proposed between representative outgroup minorities (representative of a minority category in the society, e.g. gays) and dissident outgroup minorities (defined as a minority subgroup within a larger outgroup category). Two studies are reported comparing the social influence of dissident outgroup minorities with that of ingroup minorities (belonging to the subject's own social category). It was predicted that a position advocated by a dissident outgroup minority would be more readily accepted than that of an ingroup minority, but that the ingroup minority would be more likely to elicit the generation of new, alternative solutions. A first experiment in which subjects were either exposed to an ingroup minority, an outgroup minority, or no influence source confirmed these predictions. In a second experiment, subjects were either exposed to a majority or to a minority source either belonging to the subject's own social category or to the outgroup. The results indicate that the position of an ingroup majority was readily accepted whereas the otherwise identical message of an outgroup majority was rejected; neither ingroup nor outgroup majority stimulated the development of alternative proposals. Again, in line with Nemeth' (1986a) theory, the position of an ingroup minority was rejected but stimulated the generation of new, alternative proposals. The differential role of social category membership in minority and majority influence and the applicability of Nemeth' (1986a) theory to the attitude change area are discussed.     

民族哲学20年

哲学是时代精神的精华 ,也是民族精神的精华。哲学形成和发展的过程 ,既体现了不同民族之间相互影响、相互融合的共性 ,也反映出了不同经济、政治、文化背景下的个性 ,即民族哲学。长期以来 ,由于种种社会历史原因 ,中国少数民族哲学的研究 ,一直是中国哲学思想研究领域中的空白。由于这一空白的存在 ,也就形成了中国哲学研究的畸形状态———中国哲学史只是汉族哲学史 ,而不是包括少数民族在内的中华民族的哲学史 ,没有包括少数民族极其丰富而又富有特色的哲学思想。这与我国多元一体的民族格局和丰富灿烂的中华文明的历史和现状极不相称。…     

Minority teachers become minority counselors

A high school district has developed an in-service counselor education program for minority teachers to help meet its need for more counselors who, by virtue of skin color, language, or inner city origins, have advantages in relating to minority students. One major component of the program is an in-service counseling practicum in which the teachers are supervised while they work with inner city students.     

少数民族与中国历史上的大一统

本文从少数民族对中国大一统理论的贡献、少数民族与中国大一统的历史实践、少数民族与近代中国的反侵略斗争、少数民族与中华民族的构建等四个方面,比较系统和深入地分析了少数民族与中国历史上大一统理论的形成与发展,少数民族建立大一统政权的历史贡献,少数民族为维护国家大一统而做出的卓绝努力,以及少数民族与汉族共建中华民族的历史脉络.史实证明,中国历史上的大一统是汉族和少数民族共同缔造的,中国历史是中国各族人民休戚相关、荣辱与共的历史.     

Minority influence and psycho-social identity

Social influence mechanisms are considered as also relevant to intergroup dynamics. In a social influence situation, approaching or retreating from the source's position also involves accepting or rejecting psycho-social identification with the source, implicating self-attribution of the set of characteristics stereotypical of the category or categories to which the source belongs. This conception allows one to account for some of the difficulties encountered by minorities in their attempts to diffuse innovations. An experiment illustrates this conception of influence. It is shown that the influence of a minority is greater when subjects are led to believe that they have in common with the minority numerous category memberships (five out of eight presented) than when they think they share fewer (one out of eight). The difference between these two inductions is, as expected, revealed to be most marked when the source is rigid and for those subjects displaying opinions already relatively close to those of the source and for whom therefore the matter of psycho-social identification is more salient.     

现代壮医药教育的创立与壮族文化的传承和发展

通过探索壮医药的起源,论述壮医药教育的主要形式,提出现代壮医药教育的创立,不仅改变壮医药以口耳相传的传统教育形式,更重要的是传承壮族传统文化、发展壮族优秀文化、促进壮族文化与现代文化的结合。     

现代壮医药教育的创立与壮族文化的传承和发展

通过探索壮医药的起源,论述壮医药教育的主要形式,提出现代壮医药教育的创立,不仅改变壮医药以口耳相传的传统教育形式,更重要的是传承壮族传统文化、发展壮族优秀文化、促进壮族文化与现代文化的结合.