Psychology Prof. William Crano publishes new book on how to influence the majority

Friday, April 06, 2012

William Crano, professor of psychology in Claremont Graduate University (CGU's) School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences, has published a new book that explains how people in a minority can influence a majority and create change.

In The Rules of Influence: Winning When You're in the Minority, Crano applies the science of persuasion to those moments when people find themselves outnumbered and overmatched. He has discovered proven strategies, such as working from the inside and changing the game from subjective preferences to objective decisions, and distilled those strategies into an extraordinary collection of rules that radically affect the likelihood of success.

"Those who have succeeded have followed these lines," Crano said. "If you neglect them, you’ll usually fail.

Crano's rules explain how Republicans in Congress advanced their agenda in spite of a Democratic super majority. The rules also help to clarify why the Occupy Movement wasn't as successful as it could have been.

But the rules apply to more than high stakes politics and broad social movements.

"You can use them simply to convince your family where to go for dinner," Crano said.

Crano is the Oskamp Distinguished Professor of Psychology at CGU. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Society for Experimental Social Psychology.

His work on influence and persuasion has guided national and international policy.  He has served as an advisor to the United Nations, the Surgeon General, the National Institutes of Health, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the European Union, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

More on Crano and his book at www.therulesofinfluence.com.