One of the most influential theories of power was developed by Bertrand Raven and john French, or even indentified, five different types of power, and those are reward, coercive, legitimate reference and expert power, arguing that each type of power involves a different type of social influence and that the different sides are wary in terms of whether their use will create public compliance or private acceptance. Understanding the types of power is important because it allows us to see more clearly the many ways that people can influence others. Let's consider these five types of power beginning with those that are most likely to produce public compliance only, and moving on to those that are more likely to produce private acceptance.