an analysis of coalition formation processes that assumes that (a) people in group situations will behave hedonistically and thus will be motivated to maximize their power, outcomes, and payoffs by forming coalitions; and (b) individuals’ expectations concerning the division of the coalition’s payoff will conform to an equity norm (see equity theory). The minimum resource theory predicts that the most likely coalition to form in a group will be the one that contains those individuals whose total, combined resources are the fewest needed to control the outcome of the entire group. Compare minimum power theory.