Does Power Help or Hurt? The Moderating Role of Self–Other Focus on Power and Perspective-Taking in Romantic Relationships

Abstract

Reconciling competing viewpoints suggesting that power helps and hurts perspective-taking in close relationships, in two experiments and two daily experience studies we tested the hypothesis that power's effect on perspective-taking depends on the extent to which people are relatively self-versus other-focused. In Study 1, recalling a time of high (vs. low) power over a romantic partner reduced inclinations to take the partner's perspective for relatively self-focused but not other-focused individuals. Studies 2 and 3 replicated Study 1 using daily variations in power and perspective-taking. In Study 4, being the "in-charge" partner during a conflict conversation reduced empathic accuracy for more self-focused individuals. Self-other focus was assessed with measures of gratitude, relational self-construal, and social value orientation. The current findings provide evidence that, particularly for the more self-focused, relationship power influences people's inclinations to take their romantic partner's perspective in daily life as well as their empathic accuracy during conflict.

Revising Working Models Across Time: Relationship Situations That Enhance Attachment Security

“…In general, people who perceive that they are more committed than is their partner will feel underpowered; they may expend a lot of effort in trying to understand their partner's perspective (Gordon & Chen, 2013). In attachment contexts, individuals who are experiencing anxious thoughts and feelings carefully monitor situations for signs of their partner's commitment, readily perceive relationship threats, overreact to daily interactions by reevaluating their relationship, desire more security when they think of trust, and exhibit more negative affect and behavior relative to less anxious individuals (Bartz & Lydon, 2006;Campbell, Simpson, Boldry, & Kashy, 2005;Collins, 1996;Collins, Ford, Guichard, & Allard, 2006;Gere, MacDonald, Joel, Spielmann, & Impett, 2013;Mikulincer, 1998;Pierce & Lydon, 1998;Simpson et al, 1996;Snapp, Lento, Ryu, Rosen, 2014).…”

The interpersonal nature of power and status

“…Similarly, a higher moral identity (i.e., the extent to which moral values are central to the self-concept) generally makes individuals less likely to engage in actions that benefit the self at others' expense, but this effect is even stronger for individuals with power [24]. Within romantic relationships, partners who are more self-focused display more impoverished perspective-taking only when they are the more powerful partner in the relationship [25]. By contrast, when individuals have a strong goal to maintain a relationship (i.e., are strongly committed to it), having more power makes them more likely to forgive their partner when that person transgresses against them [26].…”

Stamps of Power and Conflict: Imprinting and Influence in the U.S. Senate, 1973-2005

“…Similarly, Schmid Mast, Jonas, and Hall (2009) reported that the experience of power enhances perspective-taking among empathetic leaders but not among egoistic ones. Along the same lines, Côté and colleagues (2011) found that power amplifies the association between dispositional tendencies and perspective-taking with strangers (see also Gordon and Chen [2013]). …”