Powerless people don't yell but tell: The effects of social power on direct and indirect expression of anger

Abstract

Expressing anger can engender desired change, but it can also backfire. In the present research we examined how power shapes the expression of anger. In Study 1, we found that powerless individuals were less inclined to express their anger directly but more inclined to express it indirectly by sharing it with others. Powerless participants’ reluctance to express anger directly was mediated by negative social appraisals. In Study 2, we replicated the effect of power on direct anger expression in a situation in which participants had actual power (or not). Anger was evoked in the laboratory using an ecologically valid procedure, and participants were given an opportunity to express anger. Study 3 showed that powerless participants expected direct anger expression to arouse more anger than fear in the target, whereas the opposite was true for indirect anger expression. Powerful participants always expected to elicit more fear than anger in the target.

Cultural influences on normative reactions to incivility: comparing individuals from South Korea and Spain

“…In organizational contexts, individuals in lower positions are less likely to take revenge or to express aggression toward Normative reactions to incivility those in higher positions due to the imbalance of power and control between them (Aquino et al, 1999;Aquino et al, 2001). Alternately, people in lower positions tend to express their anger indirectly throughout social sharing (Petkanopoulou et al, 2019). By contrast, people in higher positions can express their emotions more freely than those in lower positions (Conway et al, 1999;Lively, 2000).…”

When smiles (and frowns) speak words: Does power impact the correspondence between self‐reported affect and facial expressions?

“…Supporting the proposed link between power and disinhibition, studies show that powerholders are more inclined to express their opinions and feelings to others (Berdahl & Martorana, ; Chen, Langner, & Mendoza‐Denton, ; Dovidio & Ellyson, ; Hall, Coats, & LeBeau, ), perhaps because they are less preoccupied with social norms compared to less powerful individuals (Diefendorff, Morehart, & Gabriel, ; Moon, Weick, & Uskul, ). Consistent with this reasoning, powerholders seem particularly comfortable in expressing negative affect compared to their powerless peers (Petkanopoulou, Rodríguez‐Bailón, Willis, & van Kleef, ). Moreover, this seems to reflect a general tendency towards disinhibition, as opposed to a specific disregard for social constraints.…”

“…First of all, as discussed, there are strong theoretical grounds to assume that power modulates the correspondence between facial expressions and self-reported affect. Previous studies by Hall and Horgan (2003) as well as Hecht and LaFrance (1998) could be considered outliers when viewed in the context of the wider literature on power and subjective experiences (Berdahl & Martorana, 2006;Dovidio & Ellyson, 1985;Guinote, 2010;Jouffre, 2015;Leach & Weick, 2018;Moeini-Jazani et al, 2017;Petkanopoulou et al, 2019;Weick & Guinote, 2008;Woltin & Guinote, 2015). Incongruent findings arising from different research traditions are hampering theory development, and we need to know whether power impacts coherence in facial expressions.…”

How emotions influence alliance relationships: The potential functionality of negative emotions

“…Conversely, anxiety may be seen as a low-power emotion in that it is associated with a perceived lack of control over the situation (Lazarus, 1991; Tiedens, Ellsworth, & Mesquita, 2000). Moreover, high-power parties are more likely to express anger than low-power parties (Petkanopoulou, Rodriguez-Bailon, Willis, & van Kleef, in press), because lower-power parties tend to worry more about potential negative repercussions of expressing their anger, such as retaliation (Wang, Northcraft, & van Kleef, 2012). In the light of these considerations, we advance the following proposition.…”