Influence

Influence may refer to:

In science and technology:

  • Sphere of influence (astrodynamics), the region around a celestial body in which it is the primary gravitational influence on orbiting objects
  • Sphere of influence (astronomy), a region around a black hole in which the gravity of the black hole dominates that of the host bulge
  • Social influence, in social psychology, influence in interpersonal relationships
    • Minority influence, when the minority (which can include the status quo) affect the behavior or beliefs of the majority

In entertainment:

  • Influence (band), a rock band formed in the 1960s
  • Influence (Little Caesar album), 1992 album by Little Caesar
  • Influence (Sister Machine Gun album), the seventh album by industrial rock band Sister Machine Gun

Other uses:

  • Undue influence, in contract law, where one person takes advantage of a position of power over another person
  • Sphere of influence, in political science, an area over which a state or organization has some indirect control
  • Office of Strategic Influence, a short-lived U.S. government department
  • Driving under the influence, the criminal act of driving while intoxicated
  • Influence: Science and Practice, or Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion; two books by Robert Cialdini

Famous quotes containing the word influence:

    “I became the Incredible Shrinking Mother the year they started junior high. If our relationship today depended on physical clout, I would have about the same influence with them that the republic of Liechtenstein has on world politics.”
    —Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)

    “Imagination is always the fabric of social life and the dynamic of history. The influence of real needs and compulsions, of real interests and materials, is indirect because the crowd is never conscious of it.”
    —Simone Weil (1909–1943)

    “The question of place and climate is most closely related to the question of nutrition. Nobody is free to live everywhere; and whoever has to solve great problems that challenge all his strength actually has a very restricted choice in this matter. The influence of climate on our metabolism, its retardation, its acceleration, goes so far that a mistaken choice of place and climate can not only estrange a man from his task but can actually keep it from him: he never gets to see it.”
    —Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)