Minority Influence

Twenty-one European and American researchers contribute their thoughts on a variety of topics relating to minority influence. The authors grapple such issues as the power of minorities to provide social change; the minorities' capacity to induce divergent thinking; group polarization; the place of historical method and the importance of field study. Contributions are grouped into three sections representing theory, limits of study, and methods. Some In part one, Crano analyzes the role of social comparison processes and provides an integrative model. In part two, Worchel argues that groups evolve over time in a predictable manner and that the impact of the minority will depend on the stage of group development. In part three, Personnaz and Personnaz explain the importance of the spectrometer method.