Seeking and Resisting Compliance (ePub)

Why do individuals say what they do during everyday face-to-face influence interactions? How do people seek or resist compliance in different relational, institutional, and cultural contexts? Linking theory and research to salient, real life examples and recent academic studies, Steven Wilson introduces the reader to the theories, systems of message analysis, complexities and nuances of interpersonal persuasion. Seeking and Resisting Compliance is the only single-authored, interdisciplinary text to explore compliance gaining and resistance from a message production perspective. This incisive, clearly written text is ideal for students, scholars, and anyone interested in interpersonal influence and persuasion in everyday interactions. Recommended for graduate and upper-level undergraduate courses in persuasion as well as special topics courses in interpersonal influence, social psychology, and sociolinguistics.

• Ground breaking, specific focus on message production as opposed to only message effects.

• Multiple theoretical perspectives are presented and the vast body of research from communication, psychology, linguistics, philosophy and related fields is reviewed.


• Student-friendly pedagogy, such as definitions, examples, and sections describing "common assumptions" about various theories engage students and highlight important concepts.

Steven Wilson currently is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Communication at Purdue University. He is one of five associate editors for the interdisciplinary journal Personal Relationships, and past chair of the International Communication Association's Interpersonal Communication division. His research and teaching focus on interpersonal influence and message production in a variety of contexts, from parent-child interaction in abusive families to intercultural business negotiations. He has published nearly forty articles and book chapters on these topics.