ABSTRACT
This chapter examines existing research on interpersonal influence by focusing on competing tensions between compliance with and resistance to interpersonal requests. Scholarship on compliance-resistance taxonomies, emotional responses to requests, and the role of obstacles in requesting, resistance, and responding is reviewed within the context of four theoretical perspectives: resource theory, politeness theory, attribution theory, and constructivism. The concluding section presents future research directions for compliance resistance in general and each of the four theoretical perspectives discussed.
