Power to reward and punish in social interaction

Abstract

Two experiments, which controlled rate and content of messages, evaluated the effects of “power to reward” and “power to punish” on the pattern of communication in three-person groups. The power to reward (or punish) was defined as the probability of successfully completing an attempt to reward (or punish). Both reward and punishment power were independently manipulated by E within and between groups. The results showed that (a) more rewards and fewer punishments were addressed to Ss with higher power to reward, according to simple linear relationships; (b) reward power was more effective than punishment power in predicting the number of punishments addressed to S; and (c) mild punishment was an ineffectual method of interpersonal control.