Understanding Social Influence: Majority and Minority Dynamics

Understanding Social Influence in Groups

Social influence in groups occurs when the majority of the members influence smaller subgroups within the group to change (majority influence) and when the minority members succeed in converting the majority of group members to their position (minority influence). Asch studied conformity by measuring people's decisions when the majority of their group's members made errors judging line lengths.

Types of Conformity

When group members change their position, their conformity may result from temporary compliance to the group's pressure rather than true conversion (private acceptance). Those who do not comply may be displaying independence or deliberate defiance of the group (anticonformity). When congruence occurs, members are in agreement from the outset.

Factors Influencing Conformity

• Conformity increased when the majority was large and unanimous.
• Increasing the majority beyond four did not significantly increase conformity.

This decreasing impact of increased numbers of sources of influence is consistent with Bond's meta-analytic review and Latane's social impact theory. The principle of social impact suggests that impact depends on the strength (s), the immediacy (i), and the number (n) of the sources present or Impact = f(SIN).

Majority Influence Variability

Majority influence varies in strength depending on the size, structure, cohesiveness, and goals of the group and the nature of its tasks. Fewer group members conformed in the test situation developed by Crutchfield, where their responses were not identifiable. Individuals in groups engaged in computer-mediated interactions conform at rates equal to and sometimes greater than face-to-face groups.

Conformity Across Different Contexts

Conformity rates vary across time, culture, sexes, and group settings. Certain personality traits are related to conformity. People who conform consistently in groups tend to be more authoritarian but seek social approval. Nonconformists are generally more self-confident. Women conform slightly more than men, primarily in face-to-face groups. Women may use conformity to increase group harmony, whereas men use nonconformity to create the impression of independence.

Collectivism vs. Individualism

Group members in collectivistic societies yield to majority influence more than those in individualistic societies. Conformity rates dropped slightly in the last half of the twentieth century. Moscovici's conversion theory suggests that consistent minorities will be influential, although that influence may in some cases be indirect and delayed.

Minority Influence

Minorities, therefore, create more conversion and innovation, whereas majorities tend to create compliance. A minority, particularly if behaviorally consistent, can influence the majority. Minorities exert more effort in their attempts to influence than do majorities, and the decision rule the group adopts will differentially influence the success of majorities (majority-rules) and minorities (unanimity).

Dynamic Social Impact Theory

Latane's dynamic social impact theory uses the processes of consolidation, clustering, correlation, and continuing diversity to explain majority and minority influence in spatially distributed groups that interact repeatedly over time. Implicit influence is produced by cognitive, emotional, and behavioral processes that are neither consciously controlled nor frequently noticed.

Types of Influence

• Mindlessness: Can cause individuals to conform automatically.
• Informational Influence: Takes place whenever group members use others' responses as reference points and informational resources.
• Normative Influence: Prompts group members to feel, think, and act in ways that are consistent with the group's social standards.
• Interpersonal Influence: Includes verbal and nonverbal tactics: complaining, demanding, threatening, pleading, negotiating, pressuring, manipulating, rejecting, and so on designed to induce change.

Nonconformists are generally less liked by others in the group. Communication with a disliked deviant eventually diminishes, at least when cohesive groups are working on relevant tasks. Reaction to deviants results, in part, from subjective group dynamics triggered by social identity processes.

The Black-Sheep Effect

Group members who violate norms can lead to the black-sheep effect, where they will be evaluated more negatively than a non-group member that commits the same action. The bystander effect occurs when individuals help less in groups rather than alone, as seen in the case of Kitty Genovese. Information and normative influences contribute to the bystander effect, as does diffusion of responsibilities.