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Published on: November 19, 2015
Highly identified power-holders feel responsible: The interplay between social identification and social power within
Annika Scholl1, Kai Sassenberg1,2, Naomi Ellemers3
1Social Processes Lab, Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany.
Abstract:
Power relations affect dynamics within groups. Power-holders' decisions not only determine their personal outcomes, but also the outcomes of others in the group that they control. Yet, power-holders often tend to overlook this responsibility to take care of collective interests. The present research investigated how social identification - with the group to which both the powerful and the powerless belong - alters perceived responsibility among power-holders (and the powerless). Combining research on social power and social identity, we argue that power-holders perceive more responsibility than the powerless when strongly (rather than when weakly) identifying with the group. A study among leaders and an experiment supported this, highlighting that although power-holders are often primarily concerned about personal outcomes, they do feel responsible for considering others' interests when these others are included in the (social) self.
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