Social power and emotional experience: Actor and partner effects within dyadic interactions

Langner, Carrie A.; Keltner, Dacher

doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2007.08.002

Cited by 78 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Low power was related to worse mood, heightened resource depletion, and more stress, replicating previous research (12,14,31). Notably, the effects of low power were, on average, about 2.5-times stronger (average Cohen's d to baseline = 0.48) than the effects of high power (average Cohen's d to baseline = 0.19).…”

Section: Ra Ngsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…The approach-inhibition theory of power (3) posits that high power leads to more positive affect, and low power to more negative affect and stress. Evidence for these effects has been mixed (12,31) and may depend on having meaningful interpersonal manifestations of power (14), a feature of our experience-sampling methodology. For cognition, we tested whether power related to mental resource depletion.…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Power in everyday life

Smith

Hofmann

2016

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

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

How does power manifest itself in everyday life? Using experiencesampling methodology, we investigated the prevalence, sources, and correlates of power in people's natural environments. Participants experienced power-relevant situations regularly, though not frequently. High power was not restricted to a limited few: almost half of the sample reported experiencing high-power positions. Positional power and subjective feelings of power were strongly related but had unique relations with several individual difference measures and independent effects on participants' affect, cognition, and interpersonal relations. Subjective feelings of power resulted more from within-participant situational fluctuation, such as the social roles participants held at different times, than from stable differences between people. Our data supported some theoretical predictions about power's effects on affect, cognition, and interpersonal relations, but qualified others, particularly highlighting the role of responsibility in power's effects. Although the power literature has focused on high power, we found stronger effects of low power than high power.positional power | subjective feelings of power | experience sampling | social roles | ecological setting P ower-asymmetric control over valued resources (1-4)-is a fundamental feature of human relations (5): individuals detect power differences quickly, recall them easily, and often prefer them to equality (6, 7). Although power plays a pivotal role in many aspects of life, from the workplace (1) to the family (8) to romantic relationships (9), little is known empirically about the course of power in everyday life. Without such data, it is unclear how power is experienced by individuals on a daily basis, including basic facts such as whether having or lacking power is a regular or rare occurrence and to what degree individuals fluctuate in their level of power throughout the day.Surveying the full array of power experiences occurring in real life also allows for a robust test of power theories. Most recent data on the psychological experience of power has focused on workplace environments and experimental power manipulations (10). Although such manipulations allow for causal attributions, the most common ones involve thinking about power (11) or anticipating power differences rather than experiencing them (12). Even when participants experience low-and high-power roles in the laboratory, these roles generally do not involve real decisions or consequential outcomes (13). Because the effects of power are known to change when power involves meaningful interpersonal interactions versus hypothetical scenarios or anticipated interactions (14), and when power differences are experienced as appropriate and legitimate versus arbitrarily assigned (15, 16), it is not a given that theories developed in the experimental laboratory will generalize to real-world power experiences. Furthermore, if power operates in aspects of life beyond work, it is important to determine if theories of power (3, 4) ho...

show abstract

Section: Ra Ngsupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Power in everyday life

Smith

Hofmann

2016

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

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In contrast, those in high power underestimated the level of negative emotions their partner felt toward them (Anderson & Berdahl, 2002). In another dyadic interaction study, Langer and Keltner (2008) found that people high in power reported more positive affect and that people in low power reported more negative affect than their partners. In general, the evidence suggests that in low power situations, people have less positive affect and more negative affect than those in high power.…”

Section: Emotion Regulationmentioning

confidence: 93%

Self-regulatory processes underlying structural stigma and health

Richman

Lattanner

2014

Social Science & Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a b s t r a c tIn this article, we examine self-regulatory processes that are initiated by structural stigma. To date, the literature on self-regulation as a mechanism that underlies stigma and health outcomes has focused primarily on harmful health-related behaviors that are associated with perceived discrimination. Numerous studies find that when people experience discrimination, they are more likely to engage in behaviors that pose risks for health, such as overeating and substance use. However, a large body of literature also finds that low power e which is also a chronic, though often more subtle, experience for stigmatized groups e is associated with a heightened activation of inhibitory processes. This inhibition system has wide-ranging influences on cognition, behavior, and affect. We provide an overview of these two literatures, examine synergies, and propose potential implications for measurement and research design.

show abstract

“…Power sparks optimism and confidence ), authentic self-expression (Anderson & Berdahl 2002, Guinote et al 2002, action (Galinsky et al 2003), and disinhibited behavior (Gonzaga et al 2008) while decreasing vigilance (Willis et al 2011) and worries about threats or losses (Inesi 2010, Keltner et al 2003. Power holders and dominant people often experience positive affective states, such as happiness and interest (Anderson & Berdahl 2002, Berdahl & Martorana 2006, Langner & Keltner 2008, Schmid Mast et al 2009). However, evidence regarding the links between power and affect is mixed (Galinsky et al 2003, Smith & Bargh 2008, Weick & Guinote 2008.…”

Section: Power Triggers a Generalized Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Guinote

2017

Annu. Rev. Psychol.

278

274

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

Social power and emotional experience: Actor and partner effects within dyadic interactions

Cited by 78 publications

References 38 publications

Power in everyday life

Power in everyday life

Self-regulatory processes underlying structural stigma and health

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

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About