The prosocial side of power: How structural power over subordinates can promote social responsibility

• Published in: Organizational behavior and human decision processes Vol. 152; pp. 25 - 46
• Main Authors: Tost, Leigh Plunkett, Johnson, Hana Huang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.05.2019
• ISSN: 0749-5978; 1095-9920
• DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2019.04.004

•Structural power in teams and organizations entails norms of benevolent power.•Structural power in teams and organizations also leads to dependency awareness.•Consequently, structural power induces feelings of responsibility for subordinates.•Responsibility produces solidarity with subordinates.•These effects do not emerge for psychological power. We examine the effect of power on powerholders’ egocentric versus prosocial orientation toward others. We argue that power, particularly in collaborative settings such as teams and organizations, induces a sense of responsibility to those over whom one has power. This sense of responsibility is driven by two mechanisms: (1) norms about the benevolent use of power in organizations and (2) awareness that subordinates are dependent on the powerholder. This sense of responsibility also has important consequences. In particular, we argue that it induces feelings of solidarity, a prosocial form of identification with subordinates, which in turn leads powerholders to engage in behavioral solidarity (behaviors that prioritize subordinates’ interests over powerholders’ self-interests). We test these ideas in a series of three pre-registered experiments and one field survey. We discuss the implications of our findings for research on the social psychology of power and organizational theories of power.