Differentiating social and personal power: opposite effects on stereotyping, but parallel effects on behavioral approach tendencies.
How does power affect behavior? We posit that this depends on the type of power. We distinguish between social power (power over other people) and personal power (freedom from other people) and argue that these two types of power have opposite associations with independence and interdependence. We propose that when the distinction between independence and interdependence is relevant, social power and personal power will have opposite effects; however, they will have parallel effects when the distinction is irrelevant. In two studies (an experimental study and a large field study), we demonstrate this by showing that social power and personal power have opposite effects on stereotyping, but parallel effects on behavioral approach.
Lammers
Joris
J
Department of Social Psychology, Tilburg Institute for Behavioral Economics Research, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands. j.lammers@uvt.nl
Stoker
Janka I
JI
Stapel
Diederik A
DA
D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003858:Dependency, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012919:Social Behavior; D013240:Stereotyping; D055815:Young Adult