Social influence : modes and modalities

Abstract

Increased travelling and migration within and between regions of the world, and the multiplication of mass media of circulation in print and the digital space, have brought about radical changes and shapes the nature of the modern public sphere. Contemporary public spheres are characterized by a plurality of views that seek expression and legitimacy in public approval. Individuals in modern societies, protected by freedom of speech, are entitled to hold views and opinions outside the dominant tenor, and to express them freely in the public concert. The modern public sphere is thus characterized by tensions of conflicting views and disagreements. Few places in the world, if any, remain Durkheimian in the sense that a dominant world view rules supreme as ‘collective representation’. Modern individuals are routinely confronted by others whose views differ radically from their own (Benhabib, 2002; Jovchelovitch, 2007). Conflicting views expressed in public create tension as they undermine the consensus and imply that some ideas, possibly one’s own, may be incorrect (Moscovici, 1985a). Communication is at the heart of this tension, that arises whenever individuals project and expose their own ideas and opinions, and others disagree, and the greater their distance, the greater the potential for conflict (see chapter on rhetoric and distance). [Excerpt]