Is power powerful? Power, confidence, and goal pursuit

Abstract

We investigate the influence of power on the cognitive processing of persuasive messages by examining how people with high power pay attention to recall, and are persuaded by messages relative to those with low power. We employ multiple power manipulations by placing participants in a hierarchical structure (Experiment 1) or priming them by asking them to recall an event in which they either had power over someone or someone had power over them (Experiments 2 and 3). The results reveal that, in a neutral setting, those with high power perform worse on attention and recall and are less persuaded by a message than those with low power; confidence that is induced by power mediates the effect of power. In contrast, when a specific goal is established, those with high power are better at processing goal-relevant messages than those with low power; confidence does not play a mediating role in this condition (Experiment 3).