xkcd
Campaigns
TS-Si supports open and immediate access to publicly funded research.
Petition: remove women of transsexual / intersex history from the GLAAD Media Reference Guide. [ sign ]
Read: Andrea Rosenfield's call for reform.
Opening Doors to Transsexual Medical Research
TS-Si
is dedicated to the acceptance, medical
treatment, and legal
protection of individuals correcting the misalignment
of their brains and their anatomical sex, while supporting their transition
into society as hormonally reconstituted and surgically corrected citizens.
is dedicated to the acceptance, medical
treatment, and legal
protection of individuals correcting the misalignment
of their brains and their anatomical sex, while supporting their transition
into society as hormonally reconstituted and surgically corrected citizens.
| Power Intoxicates, But Feelings Of Injustice Can Sober Up The Boss |
 |
 |
| SciMed - Neuroscience | |||
| TS-Si News Service | |||
| Monday, 28 January 2008 20:00 | |||
Groningen, The Netherlands. The study of how social conditions affect human beings, social psychology, has a standard posit: power has a liberating effect and makes the one with the power impulsive whereas lack of power has a numbing effect and makes people passive. But what about the meaning of the power situation? Does it play a role? Joris Lammers finds that the one with the power becomes more careful and the subordinate displays more uncontrolled behaviour. Lammers, a doctoral candidate, investigated the role that the meaning of a power situation has on the automatic effects of power. He conludes in his dissertation that feelings of injustice reverse the automatic effects of power on behaviour and
 cognition. Lammers, Joris. Toward a more social social psychology of power. Doctoral dissertation. The Netherlands: University of Groningen. 2008-8. 112 p. ISBN 978-90-5335-150-5. [Description below]
Lammers investigated power effects by having subjects describe a situation in which they felt powerful or powerless, and then getting them to perform assignments. The power situations described could be experienced as just (someone elected president of the student’s union) or as unjust (hazing, a ragging situation). The assignments involved playing betting games or solving invented problems.
In situations perceived as just, the test subjects with a powerful "state of mind" turned out to bet significantly more and powerless subjects more often chose the safe option. However, if the power was perceived as unjust, these effects reversed. The subjects with power played it safe while the powerless subordinates displayed uncontrolled behaviour and made more risky choices.
"Zacht" or "zucht"?
An earlier experiment had revealed that people in lower power positions were more occupied with the question of what the person in power thought about them and were more inclined to attribute stereotypical thoughts they had about themselves to the one in power.
Lammers says "These results are logical. If you are in a subordinate position, it’s important to know what your boss thinks of you."
Cooperation
According to the standard view of cooperation, powerful people are less inclined towards cooperation, whereas powerless people eagerly seek cooperation. Via experiments, Lammers concludes that this effect reverses completely if the power is viewed as unjust. In a position of power unjustly acquired, the people with the power were eager to cooperate whereas the subordinate people were not.
Tasty soup
Feelings of injustice in a power situation, according to Lammers, could lead to the "manager becoming paralysed and the cook spitting into the soup".
In that situation he will choose security and cooperation instead of reckless opposition.
Joris Lammers, PhD, studied Political Science and Psychology at the University of Leiden. He conducted his doctoral research at the department of Social and Organizational Psychology of the University of Groningen and the Kurt Lewin Insititute. Lammers is now doing postdoctoral work at the University of Tilburg.
Lammers, Joris. Toward a more social social psychology of power. Doctoral dissertation. University of Groningen, The Netherlands. 2008-8. 112 p. ISBN 978-90-5335-150-5.
Description. In this dissertation I aim to take a step toward a more social social psychology of power. In my opinion the existing social psychology on power is insufficiently social, and too material and physical. I believe this material and physical view has greatly influenced how social psychology has studied and tried to understand and conceptualize power. This view has however problematic aspects that can limit our understanding of power.
 The TS-Si News Service is a collaborative effort by TS-Si.org editors, contributors, and corresponding institutions. Sources can include the cited individuals and organizations, as well as TS-Si.org staff contributions. Articles and news reports do not necessarily convey official positions of TS-Si, its partners, or affiliates. We welcome your comments. Use the form below to leave a public comment or send private correspondence via the TS-Si Contact Page. We will not divulge any personal details or place you on a mailing list without your permission.TS-Si is dedicated to the acceptance, medical treatment, and legal protection of individuals correcting the misalignment of their brains and their anatomical sex, while supporting their transition into society as hormonally reconstituted and surgically corrected citizens.
Email this
Comments (0)
 Write comment
|
|||
| Last Updated on Tuesday, 29 January 2008 03:01 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/hide comments
Show/hide comment form
The TS-Si News Service
and the TS-Si Research Service are collaborations of TS-Si officials, staff, contributors, and corresponding institutions. The contents do not necessarily convey official positions of TS-Si or its owners, participants, partners, or affiliates.