Role-Taking and Power in Social Psychology

Thomas, Dennis; Franks, David D.; Calonico, James M.

doi:10.2307/2093455

Cited by 110 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Some scholars have posited that power and perspectivetaking are at odds Thomas et al, 1972;Tjosvold & Sagaria, 1978). Power is characterized by selfinterest, whereas perspective-taking stems from a desire to 490031P SPXXX10.1177/0146167213490031<italic>Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin</italic>Gordon and Chen research-article2013 1 University of California, Berkeley, USA understand others.…”

Section: Are Power and Perspective-taking At Odds?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Gordon

Chen

2013

Pers Soc Psychol Bull

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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.

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Section: Are Power and Perspective-taking At Odds?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Gordon

Chen

2013

Pers Soc Psychol Bull

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“…Previous researchers have documented that the powerless have a need to know the feeling and reactions of their superiors in order to respond accordingly and win favours (Hall, 1979 ;Miller, 1976 ;Thomas et al ., 1972 ;Weitz, 1976). The powerless person may speculate: What does my superior think?…”

Section: Explanation For the Power X Emotion Interactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of power on susceptibility to emotional contagion

Hsee

Hatfield

Carlson

et al. 1990

Cognition & Emotion

233

134

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This study explored two questions : Do people tend to display and experience other people's emotions? If so, what impact does power have on people's susceptibility to emotional contagion? We speculated that the powerless should pay more attention to their superiors (than their superiors pay to them) and should thus be especially likely to "catch" their superiors' emotions as well . College students, given the role of "teacher" (powerful person) or "learner" (powerless person), observed videotapes of another (fictitious) subject relating an emotional experience . They were asked what emotions they felt as they watched their partner describe the happiest and saddest event in his life . In addition, they were videotaped as they watched the tape . As predicted, clear evidence of emotional contagion was obtained in this controlled laboratory setting . However, a direct (rather than inverse) relation between power and emotional contagion was found . Powerful subjects were more likely to display their subordinate's feelings than subordinates were to display those of the powerful other . Several possible explanations for these unexpected results were proposed .

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“…One exception is Forte (1998), who specifically examines the relationship between role-taking and social power in the context of social work. Reviewing literature from a range of disciplines, he explores variations of the "role-taking and power thesis," which posits that less powerful interactants are more motivated, and therefore more able, to role-take than their more powerful counterparts (Thomas, Franks, & Calonico, 1972;Goldstein & Michaels, 1985;Snodgrass, 1985;Yoels, Clair, Ritchey & Allman, 1993). Forte finds support for this thesis in terms of gender, race/ethnicity, social class, and organizational position: Domestics, for example, "are virtually invisible to their employers.…”

Section: Empathy and Social Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In regard to gender, various researchers (e.g. Franklin, 1984;Thomas, Franks, & Calonico, 1972) have found that whereas men have role-taking abilities, they tend not to use them. " Schwalbe (1992) argues that sexual harassment is rooted in men's privilege-based insensitivity to women's concerns-for career advancement, for avoiding male retaliation, for dealing with a sense of violation, and for maintaining composure in difficult circumstances" (Forte,p.…”

Section: Empathy and Social Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

Intercultural empathy: Myth, competency, or possibility for alliance building?

DeTurk

2001

Communication Education

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Role-Taking and Power in Social Psychology

Cited by 110 publications

References 17 publications

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

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

The effect of power on susceptibility to emotional contagion

Intercultural empathy: Myth, competency, or possibility for alliance building?

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