Public Interest Communications: A Social Psychological Perspective

Public interest communications sheds light on how leaders and groups can optimize their social change efforts through strategic and science-based communication that serves the public good. This article examines how insights from the social psychological fields of social influence and intergroup relations can inform public interest communications, drawing on the Elaboration Likelihood Model, the Context-Comparison Model, majority and minority influence processes, and Social Identity Theory. Overall, these social psychological insights could be applied to advance both the research agendas and the practice of the growing discipline of public interest communications.