[ORGB3201] Exam 2: Power & Influence

Power

• The capacity to influence the behavior of others by controlling valued resources

• Academic: “The extent to which a person can modify others’ states by providing or withholding resources”

• Textbook: capacity of A to influence B so B acts in accordance with A’s wishes (fundamentally a function of dependence)

  • The more dependent B is on A, the more power A has over B

  • Dependence is created by the importance, scarcity, nonsubstitutability of resources

Power vs. status

• Power: control over values resources (‘formal power’ in textbook)

  • Ex: King Bob (Minions)

• Status: respect, admiration, regard from others (‘personal power’ in textbook)

  • Given by people

  • Ex: other people saying “King Bob”

• Status > power → influence is seen as legitimate

• Power > status → influence is seen as illegitimate

  • Elicits negative reactions

  • Like dictatorship

Bases of power (individual)

• Formal (positional) power

• Personal power

Formal (positional) power

• Formal power: based on an individual’s position in an organization

• Can come from the ability to coerce or reward, or from formal authority

  • Coercive: ability to punish (comes from fear of negative results from failing to comply)

  • Reward: ability to provide incentives (people comply because it produces positive benefits)

  • Legitimate: authority inherent in the role (formal authority)

Personal power

• Personal power: comes from an individual’s unique characteristics

  • Expert: as a result of knowledge, skills, judgment critical for task accomplishment

  • Referent: others identify with you, respect you, want to be like you (admiration)

• More effective than formal power

Informational/network power

Connect formal and personal power and influence through your position in organizational networks (social capital)

How does power affect us?

• Power is psychological → don’t need formal authority to feel powerful

• Lab manipulations that create feelings of power:

  • Recall a time you had control over others

  • Music priming

  • Assigned to “leader” vs. “employee” role and given evaluation authority

• Feeling powerful activates the Behavioral Activation System (BAS) and suppresses the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)

• Result: disinhibition and feelings of liberation from social/normative pressures

Reactions to feeling powerful

• More:

  • Action-oriented

  • Confident

  • Optimistic

  • Risk-taking

  • Focused more on self than others

  • Likely to objectify others

• Less:

  • Inhibited

  • Influenced by situational/social cues

  • Likely to feel empathy and perspective-take

Power posing

• Dominance displays result from feeling powerful

  • Feel powerful → dominance

• Dominance displays can also create a sense of power

  • Dominance display → feel powerful

Does power corrupt? What does power reveal?

• Power doesn’t corrupt per se → it reveals who you already are through disinhibition and action orientation

  • Sometimes → antisocial behavior

  • Other times → prosocial behavior

  • In emergencies: 75% of high-power-primed participants took action vs. 25% of low-power

Does power corrupt? What does power corrupt?

• Psychological effects of holding power:

  • Self-serving attributions (“I got to the top on my own”)

  • In-group bias (“you’re in if you’re one of us”)

  • System justification (“my rules are fair”; “I deserve it”)

• Behavioral effects of holding power:

  • Disinhibition and too much risk-taking (“I’m invincible”)

  • Speaking out of turn (and saying what I want)

  • Creation of systems, rules, and ideologies that favor the self and the group (“let’s maintain our status”)

  • Decreased perspective-taking

What can powerlessness corrupt or reveal?

• Blind obedience:

  • Believing authorities are just

  • Diffusing responsibility

  • Following directions without questioning

• Disengagement and neglect:

  • Believing that success is impossible (fatalism)

  • Apathy and withdrawal (learned helplessness)

• Rebellion:

  • Believing that the system is unfair → anger, resentment

  • Directing energy against the organization’s goals

Cialdini’s Six Principles of Influence

• People do something because other people are doing it or telling you that you should do it

• 6 principles of influence:

  • Social proof → lots of other people

  • Liking → someone you like

  • Authority → a trusted authority

  • Commitment and consistency → it is consistent with previous behavior

  • Scarcity → there is risk that it may no longer be available

  • Reciprocity → to reciprocate previous behavior

Social proof

• People look to the actions and behaviors of others to determine their own, especially when uncertain

• Using testimonials, reviews, or highlighting popularity

• Many persuasive messages rely on prescriptive norms, ignoring the important role of descriptive norms

Prescriptive norms

• What you should do

• Ex: you shouldn’t litter; you should exercise

• Also known as injunctive norms

Descriptive norms

• What the majority of people (especially people of your cohort) actually do

• Ex: most students don’t litter on campus; none of your friends work out

• Can undermine prescriptive norms

Liking (Similarity)

• People prefer to say "yes" to those they know, like, or find attractive

• Building rapport, finding common ground, and offering compliments increases influence

• Study:

  • Experimenters in the 1970s dressed like “hippies” or “preppies” approached “hippies” and “preppies” on a college campus

  • Asked to borrow a dime

  • People more likely to give money to someone who is dressed like them

  • Replicated in 2010 using team jerseys

Authority

• Individuals are more likely to comply with requests from perceived experts or authoritative figures

• Displaying credentials, uniform, or endorsements can boost credibility

• Studies:

  • Milgram shock experiment:

    • Participants who complied in the original study (authoritative figure was dressed in a lab coat): 65%

    • Participants who complied in a variation of study where learner (the research assistant) said to continue: 0%

  • 3.5X more people followed a jaywalker in a suit into traffic than a jaywalker in street clothes

Commitment and Consistency

• People desire to be consistent with what they have previously said or done

  • Ex: only people who had previously committed to watching someone’s stuff on the beach chased after a robber in a staged theft

• Obtaining small, initial commitments increases the likelihood of compliance with larger, later requests (“foot in the door” effect)

  • Researchers approached participants with a small request: small sticker saying “Drive Safely”

  • A week later, a different researcher returned to participants’ houses and made a bigger request: large, ugly sign on the lawn

  • More people complied if they had previously complied with a smaller request

“Foot in the door” effect

Persuasion strategy where securing compliance with a small initial request increases the likelihood of agreement to a subsequent, larger request

Scarcity

• The same exact item is valued more once it becomes scarce

  • The less available something is, the more desirable it becomes

• Highlighting exclusive, limited-edition, or time-sensitive offers encourages faster action

• Basis for “reverse psychology” (i.e. “Sorry, I don’t have enough broccoli for you”)

Why does scarcity increase value?

• Heuristic to gauge:

  • Actual value → things that are difficult to obtain often are more valuable

  • Social proof → things that are running out are desirable to others

• Triggers psychological reactance → we don’t want our freedoms taken away, we respond by valuing more what we can’t have

Reciprocity

• People feel obliged to return favors or gifts

• Offering value upfront (e.g., free samples or information) makes others more likely to comply with requests

• Ex: participants in a classic experiment bought 5x as many $0.25 fundraising lottery tickets from a confederate who brought them a $0.10 coke

Influential tactics

• Legitimacy → relying on your authority position or organizational policies/rules

• Rational persuasion

• Inspirational appeals → developing emotional commitment

• Consultation → involving another person in deciding how to accomplish your plan to gain their support

• Exchange → rewarding the target with benefits or favors in exchange for following a request

• Personal appeals → asking for compliance based on friendship or loyalty

• Ingratiation → using flattery, praise, or friendly behavior prior to making a request

• Pressure  

• Coalitions → enlisting the aid or support of others to persuade the target to agree