Self-perceived Power Research Articles

Language in intercultural business interactions: A self-perceived power perspective

Intercultural business interaction has received limited scholarly attention in business-to-business (B2B) marketing research, with language and culture particularly being largely neglected topics despite the literature noting their importance in B2B marketing. This study addresses this omission by focusing on how managers make sense of the role of language in intercultural business interactions. We also explore the role of language as a potential source of individual power in international business (IB) relationships. The empirical enquiry focuses on an extreme case of Russians' intercultural business interactions with Finns or in Finland before the war in Ukraine. The findings show that context and language, as well as translation power dynamics are intertwined, generating an additional level of power dynamics that emerge from the business per se. Language particularly influences self-perceived power in business relationships and can lead to dependence or frustration due to linguistic limitations. The study contributes to research on B2B marketing and IB by highlighting that individual-level exposure to intercultural business interactions entails significant linguistic challenges that cannot be solved only by using English. Specifically, it contributes to addressing the issue of language in use, which has rarely been examined in the literature on intercultural interaction in the B2B environment.

Actor analysis for sustainable soil management – A case study from the Netherlands

Soil quality is an important determinant of the productivity, environmental quality and resilience of agricultural ecosystems. In addition to the farmer, there are other actors who may have different interests in soil quality, hampering the implementation of sustainable soil management. To date, these actors have received surprisingly little attention. This study presents an inventory of actors involved in sustainable soil management, including farmers, but also value chain participants (e.g. input suppliers and processors), environmentally engaged actors and policy makers. We applied Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to elicit actors’ priorities for soil sustainability criteria. AHP is a method of multi-criteria analysis that uses pairwise comparisons to assess the relative importance of criteria. Additionally, we differentiated actors based on their involvement and perceived ability to influence decision-making. Based on the results of a survey, actors were placed in a power-interest grid. In this grid, the self-perceived power and interest of actors was differentiated from their power and interest as perceived by other actors. The main findings were that a complex and heterogenous network of actors exists around the farmer. Within this network, farmers and related value chain participants showed a priority for economic soil sustainability criteria. Environmentally engaged actors were confirmed to have a clear priority for environmental criteria. The power-interest grids underscored the prime role of farmers and the relatively high power of value chain participants. The self-assessment of power-interest compared to assessment by others revealed noticeable differences, especially for NGOs and environmentally engaged actors. This study provides an overview of which actors to involve in decision-making on sustainable soil management, which is illustrated for the EU mission “Soil Health and Food”.

An attributional account of power in multi-party negotiations

PurposeMulti-party systems (MPS) comprise interdependent stakeholders (teams, organizations) that engage in complex interactions and negotiations. Building on the approach/inhibition theory of power, the self-enhancement strategy and on social interdependence theory, this study aims to understand the mediating role of attributions (i.e. perception of who/what is responsible for a certain outcome) in the relation between perceptions of the stakeholders’ power (i.e. self-perceptions of power, power ascribed to others and others’ perception of one’s own power) and their perceptions of intergroup climate and future collaborative intentions.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 30 groups (113 participants) that took part in five multi-party simulations concerning the negotiation of funds allocation among six stakeholders. The authors have evaluated attributions, intergroup climate and future collaborative intentions using questionnaires and different facets of systemic power were derived from a round-robin procedure.FindingsMixed models and multi-level mediation analyses were carried out, and the results show that self-attributed power and power attributed by others predict internal attributions, while power attributed to others predicts external attributions. Moreover, attributions mediate the relationship between perceived power and future collaborative intention, as well as between power and perceptions of intergroup climate.Practical implicationsManaging the multi-party systems is a complex endeavor, and the results point toward ways in which power dynamics in multi-party systems can be addressed.Originality/valueTo the best of authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first empirical attempts to explore the association between the perceptions of power and attributions in multi-party systems engaged in negotiation tasks.

Expectations of Future Negotiation Interactions on BATNAs, Perceived Power and Anchors

Research is proposed that is counter to mainstream thought and extent research relative to BATNAs (best alternatives to negotiated agreements) and anchors, but that continues the research of Schaerer et al. (2015). A series of negotiation experiments will be conducted that manipulate the value of negotiators’ BATNAs (best alternatives to negotiated agreements) and conditions of the existence of EFNI (expectations of future negotiation interaction), requiring respondents to establish anchor offers (first offers) after each manipulation. Respondents’ perception of their own power is measured after each anchor offer presented, and the differences in anchor value in the no-EFNI and EFNI conditions will be measured, accordingly, in order to determine the effect on anchors. It is hypothesized that EFNI provides negotiators with higher self-perceived power, resulting in higher anchor offer values.

Power priming and speech perception

English listeners use information about speaker gender in categorizing a sibilant as /s/ or /ʃ/. This study investigates whether sibilant categorization is influenced by whether cues to speaker gender are congruous and whether self-perceived power in turn influences one’s ability to process incongruous gender cues. One’s self-perceived power, the perceived capacity to control another individual’s resources, can inhibit how one attends to information associated with a social category. Participants were primed experimentally for a high or low degree of self-perceived power. They then performed a forced-choice identification task—for each trial, participants were presented with an auditory stimulus—a word ranging from “sigh” to “shy”—and a visual stimulus—a male or female face—and they indicated whether they heard “sigh” or “shy.” Participant likelihood to respond “sigh” was significantly influenced by speaker gender, whether the gender of the face matched that of the speaker, and the power prime the partici...

A Relative Commitment Approach to Understanding Power in Romantic Relationships

In some romantic relationships, one partner has more power over joint decisions than the other. This study examines relative commitment as a key predictor of which partner has more power and developed a model based on classic interdependence theory. A survey was conducted (N = 324) using new measures of the key variables to test the model. When desire for control was high, relative commitment predicted self-perceived power, which predicted major and minor decision making as well as dominant conflict strategies. These results are consistent with the proposed modification of interdependence theory concerning desire for control.

The dominance behavioral system and manic temperament: Motivation for dominance, self-perceptions of power, and socially dominant behaviors

The dominance behavioral system has been conceptualized as a biologically based system comprising motivation to achieve social power and self-perceptions of power. Biological, behavioral, and social correlates of dominance motivation and self-perceived power have been related to a range of psychopathological tendencies. Preliminary evidence suggests that mania and risk for mania (manic temperament) relate to the dominance system. Four studies examine whether manic temperament, measured with the Hypomanic Personality Scale (HPS), is related to elevations in dominance motivation, self-perceptions of power, and engagement in socially dominant behavior across multiple measures. In Study 1, the HPS correlated with measures of dominance motivation and the pursuit of extrinsically-oriented ambitions for fame and wealth among 454 undergraduates. In Study 2, the HPS correlated with perceptions of power and extrinsically-oriented lifetime ambitions among 780 undergraduates. In Study 3, the HPS was related to trait-like tendencies to experience hubristic (dominance-related) pride, as well as dominance motivation and pursuit of extrinsically-oriented ambitions. In Study 4, we developed the Socially Dominant Behavior Scale to capture behaviors reflecting high power. The scale correlated highly with the HPS among 514 undergraduates. The studies rely on self-ratings of manic temperament and dominance constructs, and findings have not yet been generalized to a clinical sample. Taken together, results support the hypothesis that manic temperament is related to a focus on achieving social dominance, ambitions related to achieving social recognition, perceptions of having achieved power, tendencies to experience dominance-related pride, and engagement in social behaviors consistent with this elevated sense of power.

‘Stock’ Options: The Debilitating Effects of Autonomy and Choice on Self-Perceptions of Power

In this paper we report the results of two experimental studies designed to test how increases in objective power might systematically lead to decreases in self-perceptions of power, which in turn can lead to inaction. We draw upon theories of power and choice to examine these effects. We find that an increase in objective power, via increased autonomy and choice, results in decreased self-perceptions of power. Further, as the choice context requires more expertise, participants faced with making a decision feel more powerless. In addition, results demonstrate that when objective power and self-perceptions of power diverge, self-perceptions of power are a more significant predictor of action. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

Anxiety and hostility to an "outsider," as moderated by low perceived power.

The hostile and anxious responses of young adults to an immigrant (vs. native-born) stranger were examined as a function of participants' self-perceived power. In Studies 1 and 2, individuals with low perceived social power (males, in particular) showed high anxiety toward an "outsider" but more so if that individual was an immigrant (and thus posed an ambiguous threat to their position in the hierarchy). In Study 3, young adult males competed on a reaction time test with an immigrant or native-born rival. With immigrant rivals, males with low perceived social power showed relatively high aggression toward an immigrant rival and derogation of the rival's formidability; however, they showed a more deferential pattern with native-born rivals.

SELF-PERCEPTIONS OF COMPARATIVE POWER AND WORTH IN THREE GENERATIONAL FAMILIES

This study focused on the extent to which self-perceptions of power and worth differed across members of three-generational families as they compared themselves with other family members. It was hypothesized that self evaluations of worth would show more stability than self evaluations of power in such comparisons. There was support for this hypothesis. Differences regarding self evaluations of power according to gender and generation were also examined. The rank order, from lowest to highest, of perceived comparative power was: female adolescent grandchildren, grandmothers, mothers, male adolescent grandchildren, grandfathers, and fathers. Implications of findings for family therapists are described.

A dispositional approach to understanding individual power in organizations

This research examined an alternative way of thinking about individual sources of power in organizational settings: the impact of individuals' disposition toward seeking power (nDom) on self perceptions of power. A computer-based experimental simulation allowed structural features of the job and day-to-day events on the job to be controlled across subjects, while assessing the impact of nDom on power. High nDom individuals reported higher self perceptions of power than did low nDom individuals, and these effects were significant above and beyond the actual degree of success or failure experienced by individuals on the job. Analysis also revealed an attenuating interaction effect between nDom and success on the job which suggested that high nDom individuals may be less susceptible to fluctuations in self perceptions of power based on daily job events.

Self-Perceptions of Power: Do Social Work and Business Students Differ?

ALTHOUGH IT may be the preference of many in the social work profession to occupy the administrative roles in their agencies, people with a variety of formal academic preparation serve as administra tors in social service agencies. Indeed, social workers may be turned away in many settings in which it has been tradi tional for them to serve as key administra

"Difficult" Children as Elicitors and Targets of Adult Communication Patterns: An Attributional-Behavioral Transactional Analysis

A transactional model of adult-child interaction was proposed and tested. In determining the effects that caregivers and children have on each other, it was maintained that adult attributions act as important moderators in the interaction process. Specifically, it was predicted that adult beliefs about the causes of caregiving outcomes act as selective filters or sensitizers to child behavior--determining the nature and amount of adult reaction to different child behaviors. It was further predicted that adult attributions act in a self-fulfilling fashion, that is, the communication patterns that follow from caregiver beliefs act to elicit child behavior patterns that maintain those beliefs. In a synthetic family strategy, elementary-school-aged boys were paired with unrelated mothers (N = 96) for videotaped interactions. Children were either trained or preselected on two orthogonal dimensions: responsiveness and assertiveness. Mothers were premeasured on their self-perceived power as caregivers (S+) and the social power they attributed to children (C+). Videotapes were analyzed separately for adult facial expression and posture, voice intonation, and verbal communication. Each of these behavioral dimensions was measured on the dimensions of affect, assertion, and "maternal quality" (e.g., baby-talk). We expected low self-perceived power to sensitize the adult to variations in child responsiveness and high child-attributed power to sensitize the adult to variations in child assertiveness. Two transactional sequences were obtained (the same patterns were obtained for acted and dispositional enactments of child behavior): 1. Low S+ mothers (in comparison with high S+ mothers) were selectively reactive to child unresponsiveness. These adults reacted to unresponsive children with a communication pattern characterized by a "maternal" quality, negative affect, and positive affect that was unassertively inflected. Unresponsive children, in turn, reacted to low S+ mothers with continued unresponsiveness. 2. High C+ mothers (in contrast to low C+ mothers) were selectively reactive to child unassertiveness. These adults reacted to shy children with a "maternal," strong, and affectively positive communication style. Unassertive children, in turn, reacted to high C+ mothers with increased assertiveness. High S+ and low C+ mothers demonstrated no significant alterations in their behavior as a function of child behavior. This nonreactivity had positive consequences for child unresponsiveness (reduced) and negative consequences for child unassertiveness (maintained).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Power Structure and Personal Competence.

This study tested the following hypotheses: persons located in central exchange network positions will, through the bargaining process, come to perceive themselves to be (a) more powerful, and (b) more competent (capable) than will persons located in peripheral exchange network positions. A total of 76 Ss between the ages of 19-21 participated in this experiment. They were male students at a large, urban university in the northwestern United States. Approximately 80% of the Ss were white Anglo-Saxons and 20% were drawn from minority ethnic and racial groups. The Ss were randomly assigned to positions in 19 four-person social exchange networks, where they engaged in a 2 1/2 hour period of interpersonal bargaining. A manipulation of the centrality of the exchange network position occupied produced significant (<.01) differences in two semantic differential measures: (a) self-perceptions of power, and (b) self-perceptions of competence (capability).

The effect of organizational environment on perceived power and climate: A laboratory study

Subject perceptions of their own power (5 dimensions) and their perceptions of 4 aspects of organizational climate were investigated as a function of three characteristics of the organizational work environment. The 2 × 2 × 3 (level of participation, stockholder or customer orientation, and position level, respectively) design ( N = 120) was carried out in a laboratory setting. Climate and power perceptions were not strongly related to each other. Level of participation appeared to be the main contributor to self-perceived power both as a main effect and in interaction with stockholder/customer orientation and position level. Stockholder/customer orientation was the main contributor to climate perceptions, generally in interaction with one or the other environmental variable but also as a main effect. Participative decision-making results in decreased self-perceived power for occupants of higher positions. A customer orientation combined with participative decision-making leads to positive climate perceptions. The study, although highly controlled, yielded some results which are related to other research of this type.