Inferring power‐relevant thoughts and feelings in others: a signal detection analysis

Abstract

AbstractDrawing inferences about other people's thoughts and feelings related to power issues (‘power‐relevant’ thoughts and feelings) can affect how hierarchies are formed. Perceivers who infer such thoughts and feelings can be biased (i.e., over‐ or underestimating the occurrence of power‐relevant thoughts and feelings). We investigated whether the perceiver's gender and the perceiver's preference for a high or low power position (‘power preference’) affects the perceiver's bias toward attributing power‐relevant thoughts and feelings to others. Participants were 80 female and 35 male students who indicated their power preference and then guessed whether videotaped target individuals had experienced power‐relevant thoughts and feelings or not. Using a signal detection approach, we found that men who preferred a high power position overestimated the occurrence of power‐relevant thoughts and feelings in others more than men who preferred a low power position. No such difference in overestimation bias was found for women. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.