Illusory Control: A Generative Force Behind Power's Far-Reaching Effects

Fast, Nathanael J.; Gruenfeld, Deborah H.; Sivanathan, Niro; Galinsky, Adam D.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1314952

Cited by 172 publications

(256 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…S4). This pattern of results suggests that status and hierarchy stability more robustly influence feeling in control compared with general positive and negative affect, which is consistent with theory linking perceived control to power and status (22).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 86%

“…First, status and hierarchy stability interactively influenced feeling in control, which was positively related to performance evaluations. This result expands psychological theory of stable hierarchies by revealing that hierarchical instability disrupts the effect of status on behavior, via feelings of control (22). Second, status and hierarchical stability interactively influenced testosterone reactivity, which negatively predicted interview performance.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 65%

“…One likely psychological mechanism is through feeling in control. Powerful high-status positions are associated with greater feelings of control, and perceived control encourages status-relevant behaviors that boost performance evaluations (19)(20)(21)(22). We extend this work by testing whether hierarchy instability blocks the influence of status on performance via reduced feelings of control.…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 86%

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Hierarchy stability moderates the effect of status on stress and performance in humans

Knight

Mehta

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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High social status reduces stress responses in numerous species, but the stress-buffering effect of status may dissipate or even reverse during times of hierarchical instability. In an experimental test of this hypothesis, 118 participants (57.3% female) were randomly assigned to a high-or low-status position in a stable or unstable hierarchy and were then exposed to a social-evaluative stressor (a mock job interview). High status in a stable hierarchy buffered stress responses and improved interview performance, but high status in an unstable hierarchy boosted stress responses and did not lead to better performance. This general pattern of effects was observed across endocrine (cortisol and testosterone), psychological (feeling in control), and behavioral (competence, dominance, and warmth) responses to the stressor. The joint influence of status and hierarchy stability on interview performance was explained by feelings of control and testosterone reactivity. Greater feelings of control predicted enhanced interview performance, whereas increased testosterone reactivity predicted worse performance. These results provide direct causal evidence that high status confers adaptive benefits for stress reduction and performance only when the social hierarchy is stable. When the hierarchy is unstable, high status actually exacerbates stress responses.status | stress | performance | testosterone | cortisol

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 65%

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 86%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Hierarchy stability moderates the effect of status on stress and performance in humans

Knight

Mehta

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Research suggests that the powerful are more prone to trying to influence others (Ferguson, Ormiston, & Moon, 2010), a tendency that may spring from their high estimates of their own ability to shape others' behavior. Fast and colleagues, for instance, demonstrate that power enhances the illusion of personal control (Fast, Gruenfeld, Sivanathan, & Galinsky, 2009), while Anderson, John, and Keltner (2012) conceptualize the assumed ability to influence others as a central characteristic of felt power. In short, when faced with observed incivility, we expect the powerful to tend toward a mode of responses that is direct, disinhibited, and focused on exerting control and influence over the source of the incivility.…”

Section: Power Action and Constructive Confrontationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Witnessing wrongdoing: The effects of observer power on incivility intervention in the workplace

Hershcovis

Neville

Reich

et al. 2017

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

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“…This effect was called the illusion of control and has been extensively studied in experimental psychology (for review, see Blanco, 2017). Participants usually had to estimate how much they thought they had control over a situation when they actually had no real or low control (e.g., Alloy & Abramson, 1979;Fast, Gruenfeld, Sivanathan, & Galinsky, 2009;Harris & Osman, 2012;Matute, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavior and illusions: a model to study superstition in a participant replacement experiment

Benvenuti

Toledo

Velasco

et al. 2018

Psicol. Refl. Crít.

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The notion of superstitious behavior can provide a basic background for understanding such notions as illusions and beliefs. The present study investigated the social mechanism of the transmission of superstitious behavior in an experiment that utilized participant replacement. The sample was composed of a total of 38 participants. Participants performed a task on a computer: they could click a colored rectangle using the mouse. When the rectangle was in a particular color, the participants received points independently of their behavior (variable time schedule). When the color of the rectangle was changed, no points were presented (extinction). Under an Individual Exposure condition, ten participants worked alone on the task. Other participants were exposed to the same experimental task under a Social Exposure condition, in which each participant first learned by observation and then worked on the task in a participant replacement (chain) procedure. The first participant in each chain in the Social Exposure condition was a confederate who worked on the task "superstitiously," clicking the rectangle when points were presented. Superstitious responding was transmitted because of the behavior of the confederate. This also influenced estimates of personal control. These findings suggest that social learning can facilitate the acquisition and maintenance of superstitious behavior and the illusion of control. Our data also suggest that superstitious behavior and the illusion of control may involve similar learning principles.

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Illusory Control: A Generative Force Behind Power's Far-Reaching Effects

Cited by 172 publications

References 38 publications

Hierarchy stability moderates the effect of status on stress and performance in humans

Hierarchy stability moderates the effect of status on stress and performance in humans

Witnessing wrongdoing: The effects of observer power on incivility intervention in the workplace

Behavior and illusions: a model to study superstition in a participant replacement experiment

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