CHAPTER 8:

POWER
Mag-isa, R. F. & Maglahus, S. T.
Machiavelli

◦According to Machiavelli a ruler must

remember that whatever brings success is due
to power. For acquiring political power he can
use any type of Means. He said politics is a
constant struggle for power. All politics is
power politics.
Talcott Parsons

◦Parsons regards power as something

possessed by society as a whole. As
such power is a generalized facility of
resources in the society.
Who is the philosopher of power?
◦ Paul-Michel Foucault was a French philosopher, historian of ideas,
writer, political activist, and literary critic. He is the philosopher of power.
Foucault's theories primarily address the relationships between power and
knowledge, and how they are used as a form of social control through
societal institutions. According to Foucault's understanding, power is
based on knowledge and makes use of knowledge; on the other hand,
power reproduces knowledge by shaping it in accordance with its
anonymous intentions. Power (re-) creates its own fields of exercise
through knowledge. 'Power is everywhere' and 'comes from everywhere'
so in this sense is neither an agency nor a structure (Foucault 1998).
Definition…
Power is an essential element to group life
because it gives the group the ability to
effectively complete its goals. Authorities
use power to control the behaviors of others
and to coordinate their activities.
 “The fundamental concept in social
science is POWER, in the same sense in
which ENERGY is the fundamental
concept in physics”.
Social Power

It is a group-level process, for it is predicted on

differences in members’ capacity to influence
one another even when these others try to resist
influence.
OBEDIENCE TO AUTHORITY

◦ Obedience is a form of social influence that involves

performing an action under the orders of an authority
figure. It differs from compliance (which involves
changing your behavior at the request of another person)
and conformity (which involves altering your behavior in
order to go along or belong with the rest of the group).
Milgram’s Experiment (1974)

◦In the study, an authority figure ordered

participants to deliver what they believed were
dangerous electrical shocks to another person.
These results suggested that people are highly
influenced by authority, and highly obedient.
Milgram’s Experiment (1974)
◦ The Milgram experiment is a famous psychological study
exploring the willingness of individuals to follow the
orders of authorities when those orders conflict with the
individual's own moral judgment.
◦ In the Milgram experiment, obedience was measured by
the level of shock that the participant was willing to
deliver.
Milgram’s Experiment (1974)
◦ Tested people’s obedience to an authority who ordered them to give painful and potentially harmful
electric shocks to a confederate (no shocks were actually given). A majority (65%) obeyed fully; those
who did not often stopped when the learner retracted his consent to participate.
◦ Milgram studies suggest that obedience is common in hierarchically organized group, such as those
found in military, educational, and organizational settings.
◦ Critics noted methodological flaws and suggested that the personal characteristics of Milgram’s
participants prompted them to obey, but the findings have been replicated by other researchers.
◦ Milgram’s studies have remained relevant and controversial into the twenty-first century.
What are the sources of power in group?

◦
French and Raven (1959) theory of power
emphasizes six sources of power; reward power,
coercive power, legitimate power, referent power,
expert power, and informational power.
Reward Power

◦ Promise of positive, desirable incentives.

◦ Impersonal Rewards: Material resources, such as
food, shelter, protection, promotion etc.
◦ Personal Rewards: Positive Interpersonal
Reinforcement such as verbal compliments, smiles,
promises of likings and acceptance.
Coercive Power

◦ Threat of negative, undesirable consequences.

◦ Most people only turn to coercive power when they feel it
is the only means they have to influence others. Those who
feel relatively powerless use coercion rather than more
powerful individuals.
Legitimate Power

◦ Right to require the requested behavior.

◦ Finds their decision are accepted.
◦ Obedience is not coerced but voluntary.
◦ Sense of loyalty from the group.
Referent Power

◦ Relationship based (respect and attraction).

◦ Group members seek out close association with
respected, attractive group members.
◦ Charismatic leaders usually appear when a large
group of people is dissatisfies or faces stressful
situation.
Charisma
Derived by Max Weber from the Greek
”xarisma” (a divine gift of grace), the
ascription of extraordinary or supernatural
acumen, ability, and value to a leader by his
or her followers.
Expert Power

◦ Perceived knowledge, skills, abilities.

◦ Who is the expert in Schools?
◦ Who is the expert in the Hospital?
◦ Who is the expert in the Supreme Court?
Informational Power

◦ Capacity to reason, explain, inform.

◦ Some individuals are recognized as the keepers of
the group’s truths or secrets. These individuals
usually must be consulted before the group makes a
decision.
Power Tactics

◦ These are specific methods, such as persuasion,

bargaining, and evasion, that people use to attain the
goal of influencing others. Specific strategies used
to influence others, usually to gain a particular
advantage.
Foot-in-the-door Technique

◦ A method of influence in which the influencer first

makes a very small request that the target will
probably agree to; once the target agrees to the
minor request, he or she is more likely to agree to
more important request.
Door-in-the-face Technique
◦The real request is preceded by a large
one that is rejected. People then
comply with the second request
because they see it as a concession to
be reciprocated.
That’s-not-all Technique

◦Begins with a large request. Then the

apparent size of the request is reduced
by the offer of a discount or bonus.
Brainwashing

◦ also called Coercive Persuasion, systematic effort to persuade nonbelievers to

accept a certain allegiance, command, or doctrine. A colloquial term, it is more
generally applied to any technique designed to manipulate human thought or
action against the desire, will, or knowledge of the individual.
◦ Methods used by Chinese military personnel during the Korean War relied on
various methods of influencing, including behavioral commitment.
What are the sources of status in group?
Kelman’s compliance-identification-internalization theory of conversion.

Compliance Identification Internalization

• Public • Conformity • Private

conformity motivated by acceptance of
without desire to the other’s
internal, imitate and beliefs, values
private please the and goals.
acceptance. other.
Compliance

◦Stage of Kelman’s Theory of Conversion

characterized by group members comply with
powerholder’s demands, but they do not
personally agree with them. If the powerholder
does not monitor the members, they will likely
not obey.
Identification
◦ Stage of Kelman’s Theory of Conversion
characterized by group members’ compliance with
the actual or anticipated demands of the
powerholder are motivated by a desire to imitate and
please the authority. The members mimic the
powerholder’s actions, values, characteristics and so
on.
Internalization
◦ Stage of Kelman’s Theory of Conversion characterized by
group members’ follow the orders and advice of the
powerholder because those demands are congruent with
their own personal beliefs, goals, and values. They will
perform the require actions even if not monitored by the
powerholder.
Revolutionary Coalition

◦A subgroup formed within the

larger group that seeks to
disrupt or change the group’s
authority structure.
Bullying

◦It is the use of coercive influence against

another, less powerful person. It can involve
physical contact, verbal abuse, exclusion, or
other negative actions.
Does gaining power have
transformative effect on people?
◦ Approach/Inhibition Theory It is an integrative conceptual analysis of the
transformative effects of power that finds power to be psychologically and
behaviorally activating but the lack of power inhibiting. It recognizes that most
organisms display one of two basic types of reactions to environmental events.
One reaction, APPROACH which is associated with action, self-promotion,
seeking rewards and opportunities, increased energies and movements. The
second reaction, INHIBITION which is associated with reaction, self-
protection, avoiding threats and dangers and an overall reduction in activity.
Power and Ethics

◦ When individuals feel powerful, they sometimes treat others

unfairly, particularly if they are more self-centered rather than
focused on the overall good of the group.
◦ Some individuals (primarily men) associate power with sexuality,
so when they empowered, they engaged in inappropriate sexual
behaviors, including sexual harassment (MacKinnon, 2003)
Bathsheba Syndrome

◦The tendency for high-status members

to claim unfair and inappropriate
privileges and honors, including sexual
activities.
Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)
◦ The tendency to overestimate the causal influence of dispositional factors and
underemphasize the causal influence of situational factors.
◦ For example, if someone cuts us off while driving, our first thought might be “What a jerk!”
instead of considering the possibility that the driver is rushing someone to the airport.
◦ For instance, if you've ever rebuke a "lazy employee" for being late to a meeting and then
proceeded to make an excuse for being late that same day, you've made the fundamental
attribution error.
Lucifer Effect

◦ The transformation of benign individuals into

morally corrupt individuals by powerful, nut
malevolent, social situations; named for the biblical
character Lucifer, an angel who fell from grace and
was transformed into satan. (proposed by Philip
Zimbardo)
Psychological Reactance

◦A complex emotional and cognitive reaction

that occurs when individuals feel that their
freedom to make choices has been threatened
or eliminated. Also known as “Red Flag”.
 Integration of Faith in Learning:

And Jesus came and spoke to them,

saying, “All authority has been given to
Me in heaven and on earth.
Matthew 28:18 (KJV)