Power increases the self‐serving bias in the attribution of collective successes and failures

Abstract

Three studies test the effect of power on the self‐serving bias in attributing collective outcomes. The first two studies measure (Experiment 1) and manipulate (Experiment 2) power and then measure the internal (vs. external) attribution of past successes and failures. Consistently, those who feel powerful show a stronger self‐serving tendency to selectively attribute successes internally and failures externally than those who feel powerless. Experiment 3 compares the effects of power (control over others) and personal control (over oneself). We find that power increases the self‐serving bias, but a lack of control can limit this effect by reducing the external attribution of failures. Presumably, people who lack control are disinclined to attribute outcomes—including failures—externally because doing so would further aggravate their lack of control. Together, these results suggest that power increases a bias in the attribution of success and failure and thus presents a fundamental challenge to good leadership.

Power influences the expression of Honesty-Humility: The power-exploitation affordances hypothesis

“…Multiple studies have shown that power asymmetry leads to exploitative behavior. For instance, giving individuals power increases the tendency to falsely incriminate someone for financial gain (Swanner & Beike, 2015), to make risky investments with the resources of others (Pitesa & Thau, 2013), and to take personal credit for collective accomplishments (Lammers & Burgmer, 2018).…”

How Power Influences Decision-Makers’ Investment Behavior in the Domains of Loss and Gain

“…This hypothesis is based on the observation that people with high and low power perceive gains and losses differently. Specifically, a study by Lammers and Burgmer [ 45 ] indicated that, compared to those without power, powerful people tend to selectively attribute success internally and failures externally (i.e., showing a stronger self-serving tendency).…”

Construal of power as opportunity or responsibility

“…Beyond decision-making, how people construe power likely also impacts their interpersonal behavior. The outcomes of power with regard to behavior toward others are manifold; for instance, power can lead to more selfish behavior-such as telling others what to do (Kipnis, 1972), attributing collective success to oneself (Lammers & Burgmer, 2019), withholding information (to protect one's power; Maner & Mead, 2010), or taking more from a common public good (but also contributing more to it under specific circumstances; De Cremer & van Dijk, 2008;Galinsky et al, 2003). We argue that such effects depend on power construal.…”