How power influences moral thinking
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6204713 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jan Lammers (0000-0002-2647-121X, Tilburg University), Diederik A Stapel (Tilburg University) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 97 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 279-289 |
| Publication date | 2009-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-3514 • E-ISSN: 1939-1315 |
| Publisher | American Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1037/a0015437 |
| PMID | 19634975 |
| OpenAlex | W1997338541 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 38 |
| References cited | 37 |
The authors conducted 5 studies to test the idea that both thinking about and having power affects the way in which people resolve moral dilemmas. It is shown that high power increases the use of rule-based (deontological) moral thinking styles, whereas low power increases reliance on outcome-based (consequentialist) moral thinking. Stated differently, in determining whether an act is right or wrong, the powerful focus on whether rules and principles are violated, whereas the powerless focus on the consequences. For this reason, the powerful are also more inclined to stick to the rules, irrespective of whether this has positive or negative effects, whereas the powerless are more inclined to make exceptions. The first 3 experiments show that thinking about power increases rule-based thinking and decreases outcome-based thinking in participants' moral decision making. A 4th experiment shows the mediating role of moral orientation in the effect of power on moral decisions. The 5th experiment demonstrates the role of self-interest by showing that the power-moral link is reversed when rule-based decisions threaten participants' own self-interests
Focus (optics) · Moral dilemma · Moral disengagement · Moral reasoning · Outcome (game theory) · Power (physics) · Regulatory focus theory · Social cognitive theory of morality · Ethics in Business and Education · Leadership, Courage, and Heroism Studies · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social Psychology
Apostolic faith church organization contexts for health and wellbeing in women and children
Power
Interpersonal Power
The Social Distance Theory of Power
How power affects moral judgments
Are the powerful retributive, forgiving, or both? The moderating role of power on people’s responses to norm violation
Nurturing overconfidence
Does power corrupt the mind? The influence of power on moral reasoning and self-interested behavior
Young adults’ moral double standards toward the advantaged and disadvantaged
Moral framing effects within subjects
Adolescents’ and young adults’ practical moral judgments on typical everyday-life moral dilemmas
Peer Ostracism as a Sanction Against Wrongdoers and Whistleblowers
Does Your Boss Prefer Iced Tea Advertisements? The Effect of Feeling Powerful on Consumers’ Preference for Cold Advertisements
Power triggers moral reasoning aligned with active goals and moral flexibility across contexts
Paradoxical Effects of Power on Moral Thinking
Kant be Compared
The strength of weak legitimacy
How Power Affects Moral Judgments
Fear is the key
Between power and powerlessness – discourses in the individual plan processes, a Norwegian dilemma
Power increases dehumanization
If You Love Me Keep My Commandments”
To be or not to be consistent? The role of friendship and group‐targeted perspective in managers' allocation decisions
Why leaders punish
To give or not to give? Interactive effects of status and legitimacy on generosity
Sense of power and online trolling among college students
Power Increases Hypocrisy
The ‘‘Ahmadinejad effect’’ and ‘‘pre-emptive’’ duties and rights
Is power zero-sum or variable-sum? Conceptualizing a context-dependent answer to a century-old debate with two game theoretic experiments
Absolute power leads to absolute corruption? Impact of power on corruption depending on the concepts of power one holds
The What, Why, Who, and How of Globalization
Reflecting on God's will
Empower my decisions
Power and moral dilemma judgments
Self is up when you are powerful
The Influence of Power on U.S. and Chinese Individuals’ Judgments and Reasoning About Intrasocietal Conflicts
Coping with Moral Threat
Power, Influence, and Diversity in Organizations
Prejudice, politics, and the American dilemma
The psychology of legitimacy
Illegitimacy Moderates the Effects of Power on Approach
Power and Perspectives Not Taken
Lacking Power Impairs Executive Functions
Power, Distress, and Compassion
Manipulations of Emotional Context Shape Moral Judgment
The Psychology of Transcending the Here and Now
The emotional dog and its rational tail
Telling more than we can know
The Theory Of Social And Economic Organization
Dynamics of Contention
The Social Psychology of Groups
Groundwork of The Metaphysic of Morals
Power reduces the press of the situation
The development of social knowledge
Power-Dependence Relations
Power and Goal Pursuit
Power in Movement
Social Hierarchy Maintenance and Assortment into Social Roles
Gender differences in moral development
Ideology and the Interpretation of Personal Experience
Relationship orientation as a moderator of the effects of social power
Power affects basic cognition
Controlling other people
The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research
Social Dominance Theory
Does power corrupt
How do we communicate stereotypes? Linguistic bases and inferential consequences
You focus on the forest when you're in charge of the trees
When subjective experiences matter
The experience of power
From Power to Action
Power, optimism, and risk-taking
Hypnotic Disgust Makes Moral Judgments More Severe
The Conditions of Protest Behavior in American Cities
| Unique citing works | 38 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,38 |
| Citation span | 2010 - 2025 (16) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 37 |