Social influence

Traditionally, social influence has been defined as the ‘process whereby attitudes and behaviour are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people’ (Hogg and Vaughan, Social psychology, Pearson, 2011). Social psychologists have distinguished between three forms of social influence: compliance, conformity and obedience. In this, we review some of the most influential studies in the field, before moving on to consider critical reactions to this area of research, and alternatives proposed by critical social psychologists. In particular, we will suggest that by looking at how people use language we can re-cast what we understand by social influence.