Relative Effects of Individual Dependencies

Further Tests of the Relation between Power Imbalance and Power Use

Bibliographic Data

ID2555336
AuthorsLinda D Molm (Emory University, corresponding author)
Year1985
Volume63
Issue3
Pages810
Publication date1985-03-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Forces (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0037-7732 • E-ISSN: 1534-7605
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/2578493
OpenAlexW4241238116
LanguageEN
Citations received5

Power-dependence theory proposes that power use increases with the imbalance of dependencies in a relation. This study tested and supported the prediction that power imbalance is not a unitary variable, and that the dependencies of the weaker and stronger persons in a relation can have very different effects on power use. A laboratory experiment compared orthogonal manipulations of both persons' dependencies across equivalent levels of power imbalance. As predicted, the dependence of the weaker person has a strong and predominantly linear effect on power use, whereas the dependence of the stronger person has a weak and curvilinear effect. The study also tested the prediction that these relations are causally mediated by the reinforcement contingencies that the powerful person establishes to control the other's behavior. These contingencies mediated the effects of the stronger person's dependence, but not the effects of the weaker person's dependence. Implications for power-dependence theory and research are discussed

Data mining · Econometrics · Physics · Power (physics) · Reinforcement · Relation (database) · Thermodynamics · Unitary state · Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression · Communication in Education and Healthcare · Computer Science · Mathematics · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology

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