Majority and Minority Influence

Majority and minority influence research examines how groups influence the attitudes, thoughts and behaviours of individuals, groups and society as a whole. This volume collects recent work by an international group of scholars, representing a variety of different theoretical approaches to majority and minority influence.

The book provides a thorough evaluation of significant current developments with a particular focus on how active minorities can influence people’s thinking and behaviour, fight against conformity and contribute to real social change. It also discusses the following themes:

• Social vs. cognitive processes of social influence: cooperation vs. antagonism
• Majority and minority influence: a singular or a dual socio-psychological process?
• Conversion vs appropriation of minority ideas
• Different meta-theoretical considerations underlying social influence research

New avenues for future research are presented and many are born from a new integration between influence and persuasion theoretical traditions.

By focusing on the societal dimension of social influence this book contributes to filling a theoretical and epistemological gap in the relative literature. It offers a balanced and thorough presentation of the distinct theoretical and epistemological approaches employed by active and important researchers in the field making it essential reading for researchers and upper-level students of social psychology.