The influence of minorities: the study on conformity to Serge Moscovici

Résumé du document

Social psychology has long been believed that only the majority could influence the individual or the minorities. The French social psychologist, Serge Moscovici, through his experimental studies, has introduced a new location, that is rich in developments and which by no means is negligible. Ever since it emerged as a field of study, social psychology has studied the social influence on attitudes, behaviors and opinions of individuals. Indeed, one can say that the birth of this branch of psychological science has its reasons to the study of social pressure on people. The initial studies were conducted by Norman Triplett in 1897. In fact, he had turned an experimental observation of the discrepancy of performance of athletes according to a different social situation. The researcher revealed the phenomenon, later called social facilitation, in which people improve their performance when they are in a social context, compared to the occasions on which the pressure of the other fails. However, the influence of society does not always have positive effects: in 1880 Maximilien Ringelmann, a French professor, noted that, under certain circumstances, the productivity of a group might have been less efficient than individually. We look into the various aspects of this research on this document.

Extraits

[...] This finding is particularly interesting in relation to those studies in social psychology that have sought to showcase the best conditions for decisionmaking groups. The tendency of a group to exclude divergent thinking, though, apparently consolidates and strengthens its cohesion, presenting itself as a resource functionality, reduces innovation and creating a climate of prevailing consensus is not sufficient to explore all possible alternatives. A little 'as in the spiral of silence, exclude the minority dissenting implies foregoing the possibility of further reflection and, thus, can assess the validity of their opinions or decisions, threatening to fossilize the group on wrong positions or not optimal. [...]

[...] However, the influence has not always and only the sign of the majority. This is because if the conformity was the only force in shaping the opinions or attitudes of a group, then the social organization is static and homogeneous, with no possibility of change, if not marginal. The first scholar to raise this critical issue was Serge Moscovici, in which innovations in different fields of knowledge and of society were often attributable to the work of individuals or minorities that challenge the traditional views. [...]

[...] Indeed, one can say that the birth of this branch of psychological science has its own reason to the study of social pressure on people: the first studies by Norman Triplett in 1897, in fact, had turned experimental observation of the discrepancy of performance of athletes according to a different social situation. The researcher revealed that phenomenon, later called social facilitation, in which people improve their performance when they are in a social context, compared to the occasions on which the pressure of the other fails. However, the influence of society does not always have positive effects: in 1880 Ringelmann noted that, under certain circumstances, the productivity of a group might have been less efficient than individually. [...]

[...] Societal psychology: Implications and scope. [...]

[...] The end result of trials of Muscovy, therefore, not only puts into question the thesis that social influence is a characteristic of the majority, but also highlights a qualitative difference between the pressure and that exerted the most consistent and stable by a minority: from First, the convergent thinking of a group focused its members on the prevailing message without considering alternatives and without producing his careful review. On the other hand, the divergent thinking of minorities leads people to mental activities, introducing new alternative energy and new ideas which may in turn generated many alternatives. [...]