American Views Abroad

 
When I studied social psychology at Bielefeld University one of the major themes was group dynamics. What goes on in a group and how does a majority influence/suppress a minority? Group dynamics have been brilliantly dramatized in the Twilight Zone episode "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" written by Rod Serling. I expanded on this in a paper (1996) for a seminar with the specialized theme of how bad leaders, leaders offering simple but wrong solutions, floruish during times of threat. The text of that paper is posted here at the American Views Abroad Website. A recent study performed at Berkeley University examined the same issues in the context of Bush. (Sorry, I've misplaced the link and will post it later. Note: While searching for the link I found this related article).

Whether Bush won this election fairly is beside the point now. I think the shock for most people who did not vote for Bush is that so many people did. Many felt despair and desperation at this and immediately following the election a slew of articles appeared trying to come to terms with what happened, to define what had gone wrong and what could be done better next time, assuming there is a next time.

The strategy of the continuing movement to oppose the direction Bush is taking America should take note not only of the dynamics working for him, but those working against him. A study published by S. Moscovici and some of his associates in 1972 explored the influence of minorities on majority group behavior and came to some surprising conclusions as summarized by Turner (1991), repeated from this article, that the minority can influence majority opinion if:

- the minority disrupts the established norm and produces doubt and uncertainty in the mind of the majority
- the minority makes itself visible, focuses attention on itself
- the minority shows that there is an alternative, coherent point of view
- the minority demonstrates certainty, confidence and commitment to this point of view
- the minority signals that it will not move or compromise
- the minority implies that the only solution to restore social stability and cognitive coherence is for the majority to shift towards the minority

I located an additional article giving a brief overview of other studies in the field of minority influence. If anyone is skeptical about these ideas, I ask them simply to look at the successes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatama Ghandi in their respective movements.

I would like to add one point of what the left should not do. And that is to attack the other side as ignorant, or to be condescending in any way. Many of Bush's supporters have a sincere belief that he is acting in America's best interests. Insulting these people will only bring them to reaffirm their position. This is predicted / described by an additional social psychological theory known as Reactance (Bem, 1972) in which people react contrary to pressure to influence them in a certain direction.

That's enough for today. Next week I will post a very timely reading tip, probably the most relevant book of this day and age. Stay tuned.
- posted by Fred @ 8:16 PM