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 influential:
“In the learned journal, in the influential newspaper, I discern no form; only some irresponsible shadow; oftener some monied corporation, or some dangler, who hopes, in the mask and robes of his paragraph, to pass for somebody. But through every clause and part of speech of the right book I meet the eyes of the most determined men; his force and terror inundate every word: the commas and dashes are alive; so that the writing is athletic and nimble,—can go far and live long.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“We are apt to say that a foreign policy is successful only when the country, or at any rate the governing class, is united behind it. In reality, every line of policy is repudiated by a section, often by an influential section, of the country concerned. A foreign minister who waited until everyone agreed with him would have no foreign policy at all.”
—A.J.P. (Alan John Percivale)
“John B. Watson, the most influential child-rearing expert [of the 1920s], warned that doting mothers could retard the development of children,... Demonstrations of affection were therefore limited. “If you must, kiss them once on the forehead when they say goodnight. Shake hands with them in the morning.””
—Sylvia Ann Hewitt (20th century)