Research shows minority beliefs can spread to majority opinion as soon as 10% tipping point is reached.
By Denise Dubie
Ever wonder how some seemingly unpopular premise, say a particular political candidate for instance, suddenly gathers support and becomes popular among the majority? Recent research on how opinion spreads shows that true believers in any idea can influence those around them, turning a minority thought into a majority stance.
This conclusion came from scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, who recently discovered that as soon as a belief is held by 10% of any given population, then the belief will spread “like flame” to become majority opinion. The scientists, members of the Social Cognitive Networks Academic Research Center (SCNARC) at RPI, used computational and analytical methods to determine the tipping point at which the minority belief becomes majority opinion, according to an article published this week by ScienceDaily.
The graphic shows how over time the minority belief becomes majority opinion.
(Image Credit: SCNARC/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.)
For the study to be successful, scientists needed to identify the “percent of committed opinion holders” required to cause a shift in the majority opinion. Approximately 10% was discovered to be the point at which idea spreading from a smaller group to society overall took on great speed.
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