ABSTRACT The ways in which people influence one another has been a central concern of social psychology since its inception. For many years, research in this country has viewed social influence as the process by which the will of the majority is instilled into the minority. Recent European research has focused on the compliment of this idea, namely the ways in which the minority impacts upon the majority. This research has produced some interesting and provocative deviations from the standard findings. Considerable progress on minority influence has occurred in Europe. In the US, knowledge about factors that influence social behavior has grown enormously, but very little research has been done specifically on minority influence, which appears to involve processes somewhat different from those involved in more standard majority influence situations. The two scientific communities in Europe and the US are in a unique position to contribute to one another in terms of theory, methods, and established research findings. This proposal will facilitate this process by allowing a group of America's best social influence researchers to meet in an intensive workshop with Europe's best. The gains in theory and methodology should be remarkable, and have long-term effects on social research in America and Europe. Understanding the factors that affect social influence, of both majority and minority groups, on majority and minority groups, has enormous theoretical and practical implications. This research should foster this process of understanding.
