People who fall to minority status then rise back gain innovative influence

Evidence

This suggests an asymmetrical outcome associated with changes in majority and minority status: “New minorities quickly develop resentment and new majorities are slow to overcome it” (Prislin et al., 2000, p. 395). However, as demonstrated in several studies (Prislin, Brewer, & Wilson, 2002; Prislin & Christensen, 2005; Prislin & Filson, 2009), minority influence can have a profound impact on attitudinal and evaluative perceptions of former majority group members who move into the minority. This change generates an opinion reorientation, creating identification with the (former) minority in-group’s position rather than dissent and intolerance (Prislin et al., 2000, 2002). If, as Moscovici holds, all innovation springs from the actions of the minority, then those who can most effectively move the majority in a new direction may well be those who have transitioned from majority to minority and back to (in-group) majority status. At a minimum, the lessons these individuals learned while at the bottom of the barrel may inform the actions required to move the entire group forward. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1429

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the Moscovici thesis that all innovation springs from minority action — and to Milton/Brewer work on status transitions as sources of creative reorientation.
• DEEPTHINKING: The claim that formerly-majority members who fall to minority then rise become the most effective group movers is a genuinely nuanced psychological mechanism — status humility as a source of innovative persuasive power.