Social Influence and Group Dynamics

Abstract

Social influence is fundamental to group dynamics and is arguably the core feature of interpersonal relations generally. This chapter outlines the key aspects of social influence and depicts their manifestation in dyadic, group, and societal contexts. We first distinguish among influence processes based on external control (e.g., differential power, reward and punishment), manipulation (e.g., flattery, commitment, reciprocity), and interpersonal coordination (e.g., conformity, suppression of individuality). We then discuss how global properties of a social system (e.g., norms, public opinion) emerge from influence processes operating between individuals, and how these group‐level properties in turn influence individual thought and behavior. This reciprocal influence between the individual and society is discussed in terms of recent developments in the study of complex systems and illustrated in research employing models of cellular automata. Different scenarios of societal change (e.g., incremental vs. catastrophic) are documented in terms of the complex systems perspective, as are basic dimensions of cultural variation (e.g., individualism vs. collectivism, stability vs. change). In a concluding section, we suggest that although the various forms of social influence can be understood and investigated in terms of distinct mechanisms and consequences, they all represent manifestations of a press toward coherence in mental and social systems.

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