Striving for personal power as a basis for social power dynamics

It has often been proposed that people are intrinsically motivated to gain or increase power over others. We argue that theoretical underpinnings of such a claim are lacking. Moreover, empirical support for this claim is more convincingly explained by strivings to increase one's sense of agency (personal power) by decreasing dependence on others, rather than by strivings to increase power over others (social power). In two experiments, we directly tested the explanatory value of the personal power concept. In Experiment 1, participants performed a decision-making task, together with a (simulated) other person. The power of the two persons over each other was manipulated orthogonally by varying the control they had over each other's decisions. As expected, the participants mostly increased their personal power, by decreasing their dependence on the other person's power. They did not increase their social power but even decreased it when they were very superior themselves. Comparable findings were obtained in Experiment 2, in which participants interacted with another person whose decisions conflicted with those made by the participant. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[1]  K. van den Bos,et al.  Uncertainty management by means of fairness judgments. , 2002 .

[2]  M. Mulder The daily power game , 1977 .

[3]  R. Decharms Personal causation : the internal affective determinants of behavior , 1968 .

[4]  D. Winter The power motive in women―and men , 1988 .

[5]  J. Brehm,et al.  Control, Its Loss, and Psychological Reactance , 1993 .

[6]  F. Heider The psychology of interpersonal relations , 1958 .

[7]  Cameron Anderson,et al.  The experience of power: examining the effects of power on approach and inhibition tendencies. , 2002, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[8]  S. Ng Structural and nonstructural aspects of power distance reduction tendencies , 1977 .

[9]  M. Poppe,et al.  Social comparison of power: Interpersonal versus intergroup effect , 2004 .

[10]  H. A. David,et al.  The method of paired comparisons , 1966 .

[11]  J. Kotter,et al.  Power, success, and organizational effectiveness. , 1978, Organizational dynamics.

[12]  Naomi Ellemers,et al.  Power use and differential competence as determinants of subordinates' evaluative and behavioral responses in simulated organizations , 1999 .

[13]  R. Baumeister,et al.  The need to belong: desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. , 1995, Psychological bulletin.

[14]  A. Bandura Social cognitive theory of self-regulation☆ , 1991 .

[15]  J. R. French,et al.  The bases of social power. , 1959 .

[16]  D. Mcclelland Power: The Inner Experience , 1975 .

[17]  S. Fiske,et al.  Perceiving the Powerful: Intriguing Individuals versus Threatening Groups , 1999 .

[18]  Susan T. Fiske,et al.  Controlling Self and Others: A Theory of Anxiety, Mental Control, and Social Control , 1996 .

[19]  E. Deci,et al.  Motivation and Education: The Self-Determination Perspective , 2008 .

[20]  Leonard L. Martin I-D Compensation Theory: Some Implications of Trying to Satisfy Immediate-Return Needs in a Delayed-Return Culture , 1999 .

[21]  D. Keltner,et al.  Defending the Status Quo: Power and Bias in Social Conflict , 1997 .

[22]  R. Bourhis,et al.  Power and status differentials in minority and majority group relations , 1991 .

[23]  Paul E. Spector Perceived Control by Employees: A Meta-Analysis of Studies Concerning Autonomy and Participation at Work , 1986 .

[24]  R. W. White Motivation reconsidered: the concept of competence. , 1959, Psychological review.

[25]  I. Frieze,et al.  A mediational model of power, affiliation and achievement motives and product involvement , 1997 .

[26]  Dean Tjosvold,et al.  Power and Interdependence in Work Groups , 1991 .

[27]  Susan T. Fiske,et al.  Social Cognition and Power: Some Cognitive Consequences of Social Structure as a Source of Control Deprivation , 1993 .

[28]  H. Wilke,et al.  Cognitions and behaviour in a hierarchy: Mulder's power theory revisited , 1992 .

[29]  M. Brewer The Social Self: On Being the Same and Different at the Same Time , 1991 .

[30]  When power does not corrupt: superior individuation processes among powerful perceivers. , 2001 .

[31]  Barry Markovsky,et al.  Power and Influence: A Theoretical Bridge , 1997 .

[32]  R. Emerson Power-Dependence Relations , 1962, Power in Modern Societies.

[33]  David G. Winter,et al.  Personality: Analysis and Interpretation of Lives , 1995 .

[34]  Marshall W. Meyer,et al.  Power in Organizations. , 1982 .

[35]  H. Kelley The theoretical description of interdependence by means of transition lists. , 1984 .

[36]  Jerry Suls,et al.  Ability evaluation by proxy: role of maximal performance and related attributes in social comparison. , 2002, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[37]  Cameron Anderson,et al.  Power, Approach, and Inhibition , 2003 .

[38]  Joe C Magee,et al.  From power to action. , 2003, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[39]  Oliver C. Schultheiss,et al.  Implicit Power Motivation Moderates Men's Testosterone Responses to Imagined and Real Dominance Success , 1999, Hormones and Behavior.

[40]  H. Kelley,et al.  Interpersonal relations: A theory of interdependence , 1978 .

[41]  M. Poppe Preferences for changing power positions and power distances: a social value orientations approach , 2003 .

[42]  David Willer,et al.  Predicting power in exchange networks: a brief history and introduction to the issues , 1992 .

[43]  Paul A. M. Van Lange,et al.  Social Value Orientations and Impressions of Partner's Honesty and Intelligence: A Test of the Might Versus Morality Effect , 1994 .

[44]  E. Deci,et al.  Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. , 2000, The American psychologist.

[45]  M. Mulder,et al.  Cognitive processes in power equalisation , 1971 .

[46]  B. Malle,et al.  Social dominance orientation: A personality variable predicting social and political attitudes. , 1994 .

[47]  M. Dijke,et al.  Preferred changes in power differences: Effects of social comparison in equal and unequal power relations , 2003 .

[48]  M. Mulder,et al.  The power distance reduction hypothesis on a level of reality , 1973 .

[49]  E. Deci,et al.  The "What" and "Why" of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behavior , 2000 .

[50]  H. Wilke,et al.  UPWARD POWER TENDENCIES IN A HIERARCHY - POWER DISTANCE THEORY VERSUS BUREAUCRATIC RULE , 1993 .

[51]  John P. Kotter,et al.  Power and Influence , 1985 .