A white student is asked to study a photograph with one man menacing another. The student describes the picture to another who passes the information on to a third and so forth. At some point the information being passed along begins to reflect the commonly held beliefs of the students. As the information spread, the message came to reflect a picture when a black man was menacing a white man, but in fact the opposite was true. The term reaction is used because often these movement rise as a reaction to some kind of unwelcome social change.
Personality type is also a poor predictor.
This section differentiates between the impact that individuals have on change from that associated with evolving institutional structures. It acknowledges the influence of the individual, but is more concerned with the influence of larger structures. When change occurs in structures, like the global economy, the lives of individuals are greatly altered. The changing economy transforms the character of social relations between people. The actions of individuals, specific organizations, and specific social movements have impact on society.