Persuasion from majority and minority groups

There are numerous attempts to infl uence our opinions every day. These attempts can come from many directions-reading a newspaper, listen-ing to the television/radio, or hearing a debate are all situations where one person or group is trying to change the attitudes and opinions of another person or group. Often people try to support (or denigrate) a particular position by claiming that many people, the majority, or a relatively few people, the minority, support that position. It is this aspect of attitude change that is the subject of this chapter and it addresses the basic research question of whether people are more infl uenced when they believe a position is supported by either a numerical majority or minority.