[When power is undeserved: its effects on perception and social judgements]

(Cuando el poder ostentado es inmerecido: sus efectos sobre la percepción y los juicios sociales.)

Full Abstract

This paper explores the impact of the legitimacy of power position on powerholders' impressions, expectancies' confirmation processes, and decisions about subordinates in the context of a personnel selection process. Participants were assigned to a power position (they were told they will be representatives in a students conference and they will be able to select a mate to go also to the conference and to work under their supervision) on the basis of positive feedback regarding their supervisory skills (legitimate) or negative feedback regarding their supervisory skills (illegitimate). Two applicants were proposed as subordinates:
one high in sociability and competence and the other low in both dimensions. Although participants in the two conditions noticed the superiority of one candidate over the other, illegitimate powerholders selected the least sociable and competent subordinate more often than legitimate powerholders. Illegitimate participants also request more information about the best than about the worse candidate. We interpret our findings in light of the larger literature suggesting an impact of illegitimacy on people's attempts to rationalize and justify their position as well as to perpetuate the existing social arrangement.

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Author information

Author/s: Rodríguez-Bailón, Rosa (R); Moya, Miguel (M); Yzerbyt, Vincent (V);

Affiliation: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Granada, Spain. rrbailon(-atsign-)ugr.es

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: English Abstract; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Psicothema (Psicothema), published in Spain. (Language: spa)

Reference: 2006-May; vol 18 (issue 2) : pp 194-9

Dates: Created 2007/02/13; Completed 2007/03/14;

PMID: 17296031, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Adult
Choice Behavior
Female
Humans
Judgment
Leadership

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