The Oxford Handbook of Social Influence

Stephen G. Harkins · Kipling D. Williams · Jerry M. Burger

Jul 2017 · Oxford University Press

About this ebook

The study of social influence has been central to social psychology since its inception. In fact, research on social influence predated the coining of the term social psychology. Its influence continued through the 1960s, when it made seminal contributions to the beginning of social psychology's golden age. However, by the mid-1980s, interest in this area waned, while at the same time, and perhaps not coincidentally, interest in social cognition waxed. Now the pendulum is swinging back, as seen in growing interest in non-cognitive, motivational accounts. The Oxford Handbook of Social Influence will contribute to a resurgence of interest in social influence that will restore it to its once preeminent position. Written by leading scholars, the chapters cover a variety of topics related to social influence, incorporating a range of levels of analysis (intrapersonal, interpersonal, and intragroup) and both source (the influencers) and target (the influenced) effects. The volume also examines theories that are most relevant to social infl uence, as well as social influence in applied settings. The chapters contribute to the renaissance of interest in social influence by showing that it is time to reexamine classic topics in social influence; by illustrating how integrations/ elaborations that advance our understanding of social influence processes are now possible; by revealing gaps in the social influence literature; and by suggesting future lines of research. Perhaps the most important of these lines of work will take into account the change from traditional social influence that occurs face-to-face to social media-mediated influence that is likely to characterize many of our interactions in the future.

About the author

Stephen G. Harkins received his Ph.D. at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1975. Following a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at The Ohio State University, he moved to Northeastern University, where he has been a professor since 1989. He studies the effect of social threat on task performance. Kipling D. Williams received his Ph.D. at The Ohio State University in 1981. Since 2004, he has been a professor of psychological sciences at Purdue University. His primary research interests are ostracism and social influence. He is editor of the journal Social Influence. Jerry M. Burger received his Ph.D. at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1980 and has been a professor of psychology at Santa Clara University since 1993. He has conducted extensive research in the areas of obedience, compliance, perception of and motivation for personal control, and social norms.