Do opinion minorities have a special ability to influence others? Not according to a research synthesis of the minority influence literature (Wood, Lundgren, Ouellette, Busceme, & Blackstone, 1994). In fact, minorities have less influence than would be expected based on the persuasiveness of their arguments alone. People tend to move away from deviant minority positions in order to differentiate themselves from the minority group identity (Pool, Wood, & Leck, 1998; Wood, Pool, Leck, & Purvis, 1996). For example, positions taken by deviant minorities such as the Ku Klux Klan are interpreted in terms of the group's ideology. In so doing, college students judge even ambiguous statements racist and unpersuasive. People also interpret majority group positions using the group's ideology, but in favorable ways given the majority's generally valued identity.

Why are social groups influential? Self-esteem maintenance is one reason. To retain a positive self-image, people align with valued groups (typically majorities) and differentiate from derogated groups (typically minorities).

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Wood, W. (1999). Motives and modes of processing in the social influence of groups. In S. Chaiken & Y. Trope (Eds.), Dual process theories in social psychology (pp. 547-570). New York: Guilford Press. [request paper]

Pool, G. J., Wood, W., & Leck, K. (1998). The self-esteem motive in social influence: Agreeing with valued majorities and disagreeing with derogated minorities. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 967-975. [request paper]

Wood, W., Pool, G., Leck, K., & Purvis, D. (1996). Self-definition, defensive processing, and influence: The normative impact of majority and minority groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 1181-1193. [request paper]

Wood, W., Lundgren, S., Ouellette, J., Busceme, S., & Blackstone, T. (1994). Minority influence: A meta-analytic review of social influence processes. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 323-345. [request paper]