title: Power, risk, and the status quo: does power promote riskier or more conservative decision making?
abstract: Two experiments suggest that the experience of power can interact with a person's level of power motivation to produce effects on risky decision making. In Study 1, assignment to a position of power increased risk taking among participants with low levels of power motivation but reduced risk taking among participants with high levels of power motivation. In Study 2, participants high in power motivation again made more conservative decisions, but only under circumstances in which the dominance hierarchy was unstable and there was potential for losing their power. When power was irrevocable and participants' choices had no bearing on their ability to retain power, both high and low power-motivated participants responded by making riskier decisions. Findings suggest that although power may generally lead to riskier decisions, power may lead to more conservative decisions among power-motivated individuals, especially when the status quo is perceived to be in jeopardy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee 32306-4301, USA. maner@psy.fsu.edu
authors.forename: Jon K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Maner
authors.forename: Matthew T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Gailliot
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Butz
authors.forename: B Michelle
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Peruche
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D011209:Power, Psychological; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012930:Social Dominance