title: Does power corrupt or enable? When and why power facilitates self-interested behavior.
abstract: Does power corrupt a moral identity, or does it enable a moral identity to emerge? Drawing from the power literature, we propose that the psychological experience of power, although often associated with promoting self-interest, is associated with greater self-interest only in the presence of a weak moral identity. Furthermore, we propose that the psychological experience of power is associated with less self-interest in the presence of a strong moral identity. Across a field survey of working adults and in a lab experiment, individuals with a strong moral identity were less likely to act in self-interest, yet individuals with a weak moral identity were more likely to act in self-interest, when subjectively experiencing power. Finally, we predict and demonstrate an explanatory mechanism behind this effect: The psychological experience of power enhances moral awareness among those with a strong moral identity, yet decreases the moral awareness among those with a weak moral identity. In turn, individuals' moral awareness affects how they behave in relation to their self-interest.
authors.affiliation: Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E6, Canada. katy.decelles@rotman.utoronto.ca
authors.forename: Katherine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: DeCelles
authors.forename: D Scott
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: DeRue
authors.forename: Joshua D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Margolis
authors.forename: Tara L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Ceranic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004532:Ego; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009014:Morals; D011209:Power, Psychological; D012919:Social Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult