Power Increases Perceptions of Others’ Choices, Leading People to Blame Others More

Yidan Yin, Krishna Savani, Pamela K. Smith

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Under what circumstances do people adopt a choice mindset? Three studies (two preregistered) tested whether higher power leads people to construe others as having more choice. When power was either measured (Study 1) or manipulated (Studies 2 and 3), high-power perceivers viewed others, even low-power others (Study 3), as having more choice than did low-power perceivers. Consequently, high-power individuals blamed others more for poor performance (Studies 1–3), and were more likely to punish them (Studies 1 and 2). The findings document a direct link between power and choice by showing that the psychological consequences of a choice mindset (i.e., greater blame) can be evoked by power and that effects of power (e.g., on blame) can be mediated by perceptions of choice.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)170-177
Number of pages8
JournalSocial Psychological and Personality Science
Volume13
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2022

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Social Psychology
  • Clinical Psychology

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