Discusses the agenda-setting research model and suggests that an extension of this model presents a relevant theory of social change. (MH)

Argues that social structures, in the form of shared attitudes, values, beliefs, and identities, can emerge out of the spatially constrained nature of social interaction and influence. Discusses the processes that differentiate social space from both subjective psychological space and objective physical reality. (SR)

Presents results of experimental tests of Dynamic Social Impact Theory (DSIT) in which participants engaged in discussions over electronic mail. Finds support for the emergence of four group phenomena predicted by DSIT. Shows how, rewarded for being in the majority, individuals' choices resulted in the emergence of four forms of group level…

Describes Social Representation Theory (SRT), an important and controversial development in European social constructivism. Argues that, although SRT and Dynamic Social Impact Theory (DSIT) come from different research traditions, they are complementary. Maintains that DSIT goes further in providing a clear mechanism for how dialog creates…

Proposes two theories which constitute an interactive and dynamical system from which public opinion may emerge and become organized: (1) a dynamic theory of cognitive impact specifying processes for resolving inconsistency within an individual's attitudinal structure; and (2) a cognitive-social theory of the structural organization of attitudes…

Shows how Dynamic Social Impact Theory (DSIT) and an evolutionary perspective offer new ways of understanding social representations through communication. Outlines the metatheoretical perspective that social representations emerge as structure in self-organizing systems. Explores ways in which DSIT might be further informed by the dynamic…