ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the Arie W. Kruglanski and Diane M. Mackie analysis portrays the individual as rather flexible in that both low and high consensus positions can fulfill a variety of different motivations that the individual may have in a specific influence setting. It demonstrates that consensus can have a crucial impact on human judgment and consensus can interact with other variables to determine the extent to which individuals invest cognitive effort in a specific influence situation. The chapter also discusses the theoretical and empirical assets of a consensus based approach as opposed to other theories of social influence. S. Moscovici's conversion theory was and still is one of the most influential models to explain social stability and social change and had an extremely energizing effect in particular on research into deviance and social change. Accordingly, the normative-informational distinction refers to two out of countless other motives with potential impact on conformity and deviance.
