A correct minority wins when shared background knowledge lets it prove its case

Evidence

Both early and more recent work on group problem solving has shown that minorities with a correct solution to the problem can persuade incorrect majorities to switch preferences (Laughlin, 1980). Laughlin and Ellis (1986) have argued that minorities win in such circumstances because group members share the background knowledge necessary to solve the problem, even if a majority of the members could not use this knowledge in an appropriate way to obtain the correct solution. But it is the shared background knowledge (similar to the idea of a social representation discussed earlier) that allows the correct minority to demonstrate the correctness of their position. — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 943

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Holding information shared across a group reads as expertise and confers influence — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 940; Minority influence requires majority acceptance of the minority as legitimate in-group

Broader Connections

• Holding information shared across a group reads as expertise and confers influence #expands (0.85) — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 940
• Minority influence requires majority acceptance of the minority as legitimate in-group #qualifies (0.75)