Social Influence - Social Change

Two things I need to know...

• How the minority should behave if they want to influence the majority.
• How the minority becomes the majority and what happens then.

Clark (1994) "Twelve angry men experiment"

270 college students were asked to role play as part of a jury and read a summary of a court case presented in the film "twelve angry men". The students were unfamiliar with the film and had to decide whether the accused was guilty. The participants were asked their views about the guilt of the defendant at various stages. Clark found that participants were most persuaded when they heard CONSISTENT persuasive arguments from the minority jury members.

Social Cryptoamnesia: is when social change occurs and becomes a fundamental part of society, often meaning the source of this change is very often forgotten. E.g. women dont often thank the Suffragettes for their right to vote.

'The Snowball Effect' relates to the rate at which people convert to the minority view. At frst few people change to the minority view, but as more and more people change their attittude, the pace picks up until the minority becomes the majority.