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Thanks, but No Thanks: Unpacking the Relationship Between Relative Power and Gratitude
Eric M Anicich1, Alice J Lee2, Shi Liu3
1University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.
Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin
|July 14, 2021
Summary
Lower power individuals express more gratitude than those with higher power, influenced by interpersonal orientation and entitlement. Relational history also impacts gratitude expression in social interactions.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Sociology
Background:
- Power and gratitude are fundamental aspects of social interactions, influencing individual and interpersonal outcomes.
- The social distance theory of power provides a framework for understanding the relationship between power dynamics and social behaviors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how relative power influences the feelings and expressions of gratitude.
- To explore the psychological mechanisms and contextual factors that mediate the relationship between power and gratitude.
Main Methods:
- Archival analysis of author acknowledgements in academic articles (N=1,272).
- Online experimental study involving live conversations to assess gratitude after receiving a favor (N=283).
- Experimental study examining the role of interpersonal orientation and psychological entitlement (N=356).
- Archival analysis of conversational exchanges among Wikipedia editors (N=136,215).
Main Results:
- Low-power authors consistently expressed more gratitude than high-power authors.
- Experiencing a favor led to increased gratitude in individuals with lower relative power.
- Interpersonal orientation mediated the effect for lower power, while psychological entitlement mediated for higher power.
- Relational history moderated the influence of relative power on gratitude expression in online communities.
Conclusions:
- Relative power significantly shapes feelings and expressions of gratitude.
- Psychological factors like interpersonal orientation and entitlement, along with relational context, are key to understanding power's influence on gratitude.
- Findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of gratitude within social hierarchies.
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