Revisiting Kelman’s social influence theory: a historical and conceptual reconstruction

Purpose This paper revisits Herbert C. Kelman’s Social Influence Theory (SIT) through a historically grounded lens. While SIT has been widely applied across various spheres such as ethnic identity socialization, political engagement, conformity to societal norms, obedience to authority figures and conflict resolution, the theory is often treated as a static explanatory framework centered on the three processes of compliance, identification and internalization. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it reconstructs the historical context in which SIT evolved across successive phases of theoretical refinement and interdisciplinary diffusion. Second, this paper seeks to interrogate the philosophical foundations of the theory. Design/methodology/approach This paper adopts a phase-based historical-interpretive approach to theory development, identifying key intellectual turning points in the evolution of SIT. Primary texts by Kelman and related foundational works in social psychology are examined alongside interdisciplinary adaptations of SIT. In addition, this paper incorporates a reflexive reading of the literature, examining the philosophical assumptions, discursive patterns and theoretical critiques that have shaped SIT’s evolution. Findings The historical reconstruction reveals that SIT emerged as a conceptual response to limitations in earlier persuasion research. Kelman’s work addressed this by linking behavioral change to underlying motivational processes. Over time, the theory expanded beyond its original psychological focus and has been adapted across multiple disciplines. At the same time, SIT has generated important critiques, particularly regarding the theory’s assumption of agent-driven influence and its limited attention to reflexive or bidirectional influence processes. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature in several ways. First, it offers a historically grounded reinterpretation of SIT. By doing so, this paper demonstrates that SIT should be understood as part of a wider theoretical conversation concerning persuasion, conformity and institutional legitimacy. Second, this study highlights the interdisciplinary diffusion of SIT and illustrates how the theory has been adapted and reinterpreted across different fields of inquiry. Finally, by analyzing the areas of critique, this paper proposes new avenues for extending SIT in contemporary organizational and social contexts.