Positive deviance in theory and practice: a conceptual review

The term “positive deviance” has become increasingly popular in recent years, resulting in the co-existence of multiple definitions and applications scattered among diverse sources of academic literature. The aim of this paper is to bring conceptual clarity to the term by providing a comprehensive synthesis and review of the positive deviance literature. Analysis reveals conceptual and thematic differences in the language employed by authors applying positive deviance in a practical context compared with articles of a more theoretical nature. New directions are proposed for exploring the use and merit of the positive deviance concept into new areas of research