Power and Dependency: Legitimation of Dependency Conditions

Abstract

Summary Obvious differences in subject responses were noted in dependency situations involving requests with differing legitimacy bases. Analysis of variance revealed that these differences were significant at the .05 level and a measure of association (Dyx = .35) indicated a fairly substantial gain of information. It is believed that the study does demonstrate that differences existed in dependency situations and that in some situations the norm of social responsibility was perceived by the independent individual to be applicable to the interaction event and that in others it was not. A difference in the nature of the outcomes for the dependent individual was seen in the various situations, and it is believed that these differences resulted from the power associated with the norm of social responsibility.