1

SUNJAY GHAI

How Does Power Affect

The Brain?
Pd. 3

What is power? What does it due to our humanity? Power corrupts, and absolute power
corrupts absolutely. (Acton, 1887) This quote adequately represents what power does to our
humanity. Imagine, a prison guard abusing a prisoner out of boredom and just because he can.
("The Stanford Prison Experiment - Overview," n.d.)A common definition of power, coined by
Max Weber, is the ability to control or influence people, events resources; to make happen what
one wants to happen in spite of obstacles, resistance, or opposition. This ability has fascinated
philosophers, scientists, and historians alike since before the dawn of recorded history. Though
power is the ability to influence others, power itself can greatly influence and even corrupt, the
person who wields it. There is a reason for humankinds obsession with power: receiving it and
being able to control others affects our brains in ways we thought only hallucinogens or
stimulants could. ("Does It Matter If Politicians, Like Baboons, Are Literally Addicted to Power?
| TheDopamineProject.org," n.d.) Power is an addictive drug and its effects on the brain are
immense; it affects how we consider the feelings of others, makes us demean others, and can
even cause chemical imbalances in the brain.
Power tends to make humans reluctant to considering the feelings of others and through a
research study conducted by Sukhvinder Obhi and his team of neuroscientists, this power may
be linked to how our brain functions.(Benderev & Obhi, 2013) In the study, Obhi took a number
of college students and put some in situations of power and others in situations of diminished
power. After doing so, the scientists tracked the students brain activity while they watched a
video of an anonymous hand squeezing a ball. The video of the hand squeezing the rubber ball
brings into play the mirror system, a region of the brain that allows intelligent animals (in this
case, humans) to process empathy by making us feel, or mirror, what someone else is doing. The
group of students who was formerly in the situation of power was hindered in their empathic

process and their mirror system seemed less responsive, while the students who were put into the
powerless situation had increased activity in their mirror system.
The affects of power on the brain are negative for the person who wields it, however,
according to a recent research study, they may also be negative for those around them. The
research, titled The Destructive Nature of Power Without Status("Power Corrupts, Especially
When It Lacks Status | Fast et al, Stanford Knowledgebase," n.d.), concludes that people in
positions with power but low social status often use their authority to demean others. An example
is the DMV employee who seems to be picking on people who just want to register a car. The
study used 213 undergraduate students in role play scenarios, simulating different combinations
of power and status. The researchers told some students that they were high-status "idea
producers" and others they were low-level workers, and split them further into low- and highpower groups. The students were asked to assign their classmates tasks from a list including
everything from "clap your hands 50 times" to "say 'I am not worthy' five times." The students
given high power but low status were significantly more likely to assign the most demeaning
tasks than members of the other three groups. The lesson is not just that power corrupts, but that
putting people in demeaning roles leads them to demean others.
The illegal stimulant cocaine is constantly being abused because of the fabricated happy
feelings it gives people. It hijacks the brains reward system and increases dopamine levels to
give short-term extreme pleasure and lead to long-term addiction. This drug, power, is constantly
being abused by our politicians. For example, Baboons low down in the dominance hierarchy
have lower levels of dopamine in key brain areas, but if they get promoted to a higher position,
then dopamine rises accordingly. ("Does It Matter If Politicians, Like Baboons, Are Literally
Addicted to Power? | TheDopamineProject.org," n.d.) Politicians, like baboons, are literally

addicted to power. According to Ian Robertson, power also makes people smarter, because
dopamine improves the functioning of the brains frontal lobes. Conversely, being demoted in a
hierarchy decreases dopamine levels, increases stress, and reduces cognitive function. But too
much power can disrupt normal cognition and emotion, due to high levels of dopamine, leading
to errors of judgment and imperviousness to risk, and not to mention having a narcissistic
personality.

References
The Stanford Prison Experiment - Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://psychology.about.com/od/classicpsychologystudies/a/stanford-prisonexperiment.htm
Does It Matter If Politicians, Like Baboons, Are Literally Addicted to Power? |
TheDopamineProject.org. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://dopamineproject.org/2013/07/does-it-matter-if-politicians-like-baboons-are-literallyaddicted-to-power/
Power really does corrupt as scientists claim it's as addictive as cocaine | Daily Mail Online.
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2136547/Power-reallydoes-corrupt-scientists-claim-addictive-cocaine.html
Power Corrupts, Especially When It Lacks Status | Stanford Knowledgebase. (n.d.). Retrieved
from http://web.stanford.edu/group/knowledgebase/cgi-bin/2011/09/20/power-corruptsespecially-when-it-lacks-status/
Benderev, C., & Obhi, S. (2013, August 10). When Power Goes To Your Head, It May Shut Out
Your Heart : NPR. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2013/08/10/210686255/a-sense-ofpower-can-do-a-number-on-your-brain