“Power corrupts” revisited: the role of construal of power as opportunity or responsibility

Sassenberg, Kai; Ellemers, Naomi; Scheepers, Daan; Scholl, Annika

doi:10.1017/cbo9781139565417.007

Cited by 32 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…In many situations, people in authority positions sacrifice their interests to serve their groups (Hoogervorst et al 2012, Ratcliff & Vescio 2013. This is more pronounced in collectivistic cultures, which associate power with social responsibility (socialized power), whereas in individualistic cultures power is seen in terms of self-interested opportunities (personalized power; Torelli & Shavitt 2010; see also Sassenberg et al 2014). These findings are consistent with the notion that power facilitates the pursuit of salient goals, which can be linked to the predispositions of the person, cultural influences, or the situation.…”

Section: Wwwannualreviewsorg • How Power Affects People 369mentioning

confidence: 99%

How Power Affects People: Activating, Wanting, and Goal Seeking

Guinote

2017

Annu. Rev. Psychol.

278

274

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Sociocognitive research has demonstrated that power affects how people feel, think, and act. In this article, I review literature from social psychology, neuroscience, management, and animal research and propose an integrated framework of power as an intensifier of goal-related approach motivation. A growing literature shows that power energizes thought, speech, and action and orients individuals toward salient goals linked to power roles, predispositions, tasks, and opportunities. Power magnifies self-expression linked to active parts of the self (the active self ), enhancing confidence, self-regulation, and prioritization of efforts toward advancing focal goals. The effects of power on cognitive processes, goal preferences, performance, and corruption are discussed, and its potentially detrimental effects on social attention, perspective taking, and objectification of subordinates are examined. Several inconsistencies in the literature are explained by viewing power holders as more flexible and dynamic than is usually assumed.

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Section: Wwwannualreviewsorg • How Power Affects People 369mentioning

confidence: 99%

How Power Affects People: Activating, Wanting, and Goal Seeking

Guinote

2017

Annu. Rev. Psychol.

278

274

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“…When social power differences are present, this implies that people have asymmetrical control over each other's resources and outcomes (Fiske & Berdahl, 2006). However, those who have power can interpret and use this asymmetrical control in different ways, some of which may result in behaviors that favor powerless individuals, whereas others may favor other individuals with power (for an overview of different approaches to and the implications of power, see Sassenberg, Ellemers, Scheepers, & Scholl, 2014). As a result, it is very important for subordinates to pay close attention to the communications and actions of those in power, so as to interpret and anticipate how they are likely to invest the control they have.…”

Section: Contextual Cues To Discriminationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting and Experiencing Prejudice

Barreto

Ellemers

2015

Advances in Experimental Social Psychology

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“…Consequently, possessing power should make people even more likely to underestimate the extent to which others feel compelled by social pressure, thereby leading them to overestimate the extent to which another person “could have done otherwise.” This makes power likely to obscure a person's awareness of the coerciveness of their own requests and suggestions, decreasing their own sense of responsibility for another person's questionable behavior. Indeed, as this line of theorizing would suggest, inducing an other‐focus in powerful individuals—essentially, intervening to counteract powerful people's hyper‐egocentrism—has been found to increase their willingness to take responsibility for others (Chen, Lee‐Chai, & Bargh, ; De Wit, Scheepers, Ellemers, Sassenberg, & Scholl, ; Gordon & Chen, ; Sassenberg, Ellemers, Scheepers, & Scholl, ; Scholl, Sassenberg, Scheepers, Ellemers, & de Wit, ; Scholl et al, ).…”

Section: The Effect Of Power On Beliefs About Responsibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Power and perceived influence: I caused your behavior, but I'm not responsible for it

Bohns

Newark

2018

Social & Personality Psych

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There are numerous examples of powerful people denying responsibility for others' (mis)conduct in which they played—and acknowledge playing—a causal role. The current article seeks to explain this conundrum by examining the difference between, and powerful people's beliefs about, causality and responsibility. Research has shown power to have numerous psychological consequences. Some of these consequences, such as overconfidence, are likely to increase an individual's belief that he or she caused another person's behavior. However, others, such as decreased perspective‐taking, are likely to decrease an individual's belief that he or she was responsible for another person's behavior. In combination, these psychological consequences of power may lead powerful people to believe that they instigated another's behavior while simultaneously believing that the other person could have chosen to do otherwise. The dissociation between these two attributions may help to explain why people in positions of power often deny responsibility for others' behavior—unethical or otherwise—that they undeniably caused.

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“Power corrupts” revisited: the role of construal of power as opportunity or responsibility

Cited by 32 publications

References 44 publications

How Power Affects People: Activating, Wanting, and Goal Seeking

How Power Affects People: Activating, Wanting, and Goal Seeking

Detecting and Experiencing Prejudice

Power and perceived influence: I caused your behavior, but I'm not responsible for it

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