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The Impact of Majority and Minority Social Support for Pro Environmental Values on Pro Environmental Behaviours
Abstract
Reflecting and Building Upon the Theoretical Contributions of Serge Moscovici. Tribute to Serge Moscovici. Paris IAS, 17-18 November 2016 - Session 2

In the present communication, we revisit Moscovici’s theory of minority influence. We briefly describe the core aspects of the theory and the impact it had on the social influence research field back from the 1970-1980 until today. In our own work, we go one step beyond this theory and investigate how being a member of the minority versus the majority modifies group-relevant behaviour. Notably, we hypothesise that a minority group has an energising effect on its members that encourages them to pursue the minority’s goals further and further. A majority group, however, lacks such a motivational power and can only obtain a minimal effort from its own members. We present experimental findings from three studies that support this hypothesis.

The impact of majority and minority social support for pro environmental values on pro-environmental behaviours
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