Research Handbook on Social Influence

This timely Research Handbook provides an in-depth exploration of the scholarly understanding of social influence. Expanding on classic characterisations and themes such as conformity, majority and minority persuasion, compliance and authority, this book examines how people exert and react to social influence in dynamic interpersonal and group settings.

Bringing together a diverse team of global experts, the Research Handbook reviews how research in the field has historically developed, assesses current analyses that range from neurocognitive to cultural in existing social influence research and highlights key avenues for the advancement of this burgeoning area of study. Authors document the ubiquitous nature of social influence, address its effects on performance and action, and discuss how it shapes the self, relationships, groups and social reality. Finally, the Research Handbook reflects on the role of social influence in two specific settings, the digital world and legal processes, areas chosen for their unique relevance and research vibrancy.

The Research Handbook on Social Influence will be an essential resource for academic researchers and students of social psychology, but also for scholars and practitioners in many other fields concerned with social behaviour. Providing a rigorous yet accessible overview of social influence research, this Handbook will serve them well as a source of scientific information and its potential applications to their professional endeavours.