Power effects on cognitive control: Turning conflict into action.
Petra C Schmid1, Tali Kleiman2, David M Amodio1
1Department of Psychology.
Journal of Experimental Psychology. General
|April 21, 2015
Summary
Feeling powerful improves cognitive control, aiding goal pursuit by enhancing action implementation, not just conflict detection. This research sheds light on how social dynamics influence executive functions.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Social Cognition
Background:
- Power is recognized for its role in goal achievement, particularly when overcoming internal or external obstacles.
- The underlying mechanism is hypothesized to involve enhanced cognitive control, encompassing both engagement and implementation of goal-directed behavior.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of cognitive control in mediating the effects of power on goal pursuit.
- To differentiate between enhanced controlled processing and reduced automatic processing as explanations for power's effects.
- To examine the neural correlates of power's influence on conflict processing and action implementation.
Main Methods:
- Study 1 utilized a response conflict task to assess behavioral performance and processing.
- Study 2 employed event-related potentials (ERPs) to measure anterior cingulate activity, a neural index of cognitive control.
- Participants' neural sensitivity to conflict and the link between conflict processing and action implementation were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Power enhanced behavioral performance on the conflict task, attributed to increased controlled processing.
- Neural data indicated that power did not significantly alter conflict sensitivity.
- High power was associated with a stronger connection between conflict processing and the implementation of intended actions.
Conclusions:
- Social power influences goal pursuit by enhancing the implementation of cognitive control, rather than solely by increasing conflict detection.
- These findings offer a novel perspective on the interplay between social factors and executive functions.
- The study provides new insights into the transition from detecting conflict to implementing action control.
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