title: Power Structure and Personal Competence.
abstract: This study tested the following hypotheses: persons located in central exchange network positions will, through the bargaining process, come to perceive themselves to be (a) more powerful, and (b) more competent (capable) than will persons located in peripheral exchange network positions. A total of 76 Ss between the ages of 19-21 participated in this experiment. They were male students at a large, urban university in the northwestern United States. Approximately 80% of the Ss were white Anglo-Saxons and 20% were drawn from minority ethnic and racial groups. The Ss were randomly assigned to positions in 19 four-person social exchange networks, where they engaged in a 2 1/2 hour period of interpersonal bargaining. A manipulation of the centrality of the exchange network position occupied produced significant (<.01) differences in two semantic differential measures: (a) self-perceptions of power, and (b) self-perceptions of competence (capability).
authors.affiliation: a Northern Illinois University , USA.
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Stolte