Social Power and the Advent of Action

Abstract

Power-the ability to influence the outcomes of other people-is a key variable that regulates a wide range of human social interactions. Although previous research has demonstrated that power leads people to become approach-oriented, most studies have focused on how this orientation manifests itself in conscious, higher-order aspects of social behavior. The current study presents evidence that priming the concept of power has a direct influence on low level processes within the motor system. Participants performed a task in which they responded to auditory cues by moving their hand either toward the immediate environment (approach) or away from the environment (avoidance). Priming the concept of power facilitated the initiation of approach responses and, to a lesser degree, interfered with initiation of avoidance responses. This study supplements theories of power and approach, and fits with recent work suggesting fundamental links between cognitive processes and motor behavior.

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

“…Support for this theory stems from studies of motor responses (Maner et al 2010, Smith & Bargh 2008, self-report (Lammers et al 2010, Smith & Bargh 2008, and left hemispheric brain dominance (Boksem et al 2012, Wilkinson et al 2010. For example, in one study (Maner et al 2010), power-primed participants responded to auditory signals by pressing keys that implied approach movements toward the body or avoidance movements away from the body. High levels of power facilitated approach movements.…”

When does power trigger approach motivation? Threats and the role of perceived control in the power domain

“…Supporting the notion that power activates people (Guinote, ), research has consistently found speedy responses in the thought processes, speech, and action of power holders. For instance, Maner, Kaschak, and Jones () found that priming power reduced the time taken by participants to approach stimuli (e.g., to move the hand towards the stimuli) and increased the time taken to inhibit responses (e.g., to move the hand away from stimuli; see also Smith & Bargh, ).…”

Early and late brain signatures of emotional prosody among individuals with high versus low power

“…Power is a fundamental part of everyday social life and has been shown to shape many aspects of our interactions with others (e.g., Keltner et al, ; Kipnis, ; Maner, Kaschak, & Jones, ). One definition that is commonly adopted in social psychological research states that power is “an individual's relative capacity to modify others' states by providing or withholding resources or administering punishments” (Keltner, Gruenfeld, & Anderson, , p. 265).…”