How Power Changes YouDoes power have a negative effect on people's character?
Source: psychologytoday.com
sticky-yellowNot Always
How (and Why) Power Corrupts PeopleExplore the psychology of power and its impact on human behavior.
Source: psychologytoday.com
sticky-yellowDoes an individual's or a leader's power have to be a corrupting force and lead to bad behavior? No. One way to distinguish between power that corrupts and power used for positive ends is the difference between what leadership scholars call "personalized" versus "socialized" power. Personalized power is used for personal gains, while socialized power is used to benefit others.
The best antidote to power and corruption is humility. It is important that leaders and others with power have the humility to evaluate their behavior objectively. (Riggio para.6 & 7)
sticky-blueAs Sturm and Antonakis suggest “the experience of power changes individuals in ways that can be either positive or negative… by activating individuals’ underlying traits or attributes. That is, if individuals are morally inclined, power may actually facilitate ethical choices.” Other researchers have similarly suggested that “communally or collectively oriented individuals tend to respond to power in socially responsible, and not self-interested, ways.”
So, Lord Action was on the right track. Power does corrupt. However, it seems to be most likely to corrupt people who have an existing inclination towards corruption. For those with more socially-oriented proclivities, power seems to liberate more honorable aspects of their character. ( Gruman, para 7&8)
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The Stanford Prison ExperimentThe Stanford Prison Experiment was a social psychology study in which college students became prisoners or guards in a simulated prison environment. The experiment, funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research, took place at Stanford University in August 1971. It was intended to measure the effect of role-playing, labeling, and social expectations on behavior over a period of two weeks. However, mistreatment of prisoners escalated so alarmingly that the principal investigator, the American psychologist Philip G. Zimbardo, terminated the experiment after only six days
sticky-yellowDespite its early termination, the experiment seemed to show that the regular attitudes and behavior of normal persons could be dramatically altered by the social situations in which they find themselves. Zimbardo himself claimed that the experiment’s “social forces and environmental contingencies” had led the guards to behave badly. However, some critics claimed that the experiment showed only that the original advertisement had attracted people who were predisposed to authoritarianism. Others accused Zimbardo of encouraging the guards’ cruelty through his own actions. Zimbardo admitted that during the experiment he had sometimes felt more like a prison superintendent than a research psychologist (Britannica Editors, para.4)
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sticky-yellowauthoritarianism, in politics and government, the blind submission to authority and the repression of individual freedom of thought and action. Authoritarian regimes are systems of government that have no established mechanism for the transfer of executive power and do not afford their citizens civil liberties or political rights. Power is concentrated in the hands of a single leader or a small elite, whose decisions are taken without regard for the will of the people. The term authoritarianism is often used to denote any form of government that is not democratic, but studies have demonstrated that there is a great deal of variation in authoritarian rule. (Lindstaedt, para.1)
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textStanford Prison Experiment
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Authoritarianism Article from www.britannica.com. Double-click to add notes.
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sticky-yellowDaenerys Targaryen- Introduced to us as a girl who was controlled by her brother Viserys. She has no freedom or authority as she is. She gains power through her husband and eventually frees slaves and acts compassionately. Her morals swaying her actions. Then she gains Dragons which gives her immense power, she now believes she is destined to rule the world. She begins to believe that only her vision is the correct one, and violence is acceptable to enforce it. She then loses almost everyone and this loneliness begins to pull her into a spiral, She abandons her morals and destroys a city, believing that violence in necessary to create a better world. She cares more about domination than liberation, and becomes the thing she initally fought against.
sticky-yellowCersi Lannister- Similar to Daenerys entered the show with very little power. She is trapped by gender expectations, constantly dismissed. She has a desire to rule that is trampled on by the idea that women cannot rule. Cersis love for her family turns to obsession, showing that no matter how innocent the motive, power can still corrupt. When her son gains power, she begins to abuse power through him. She eventually gains absolute power and goes on a murder spree, killing hundreds.
On power and its corrupting effects: the effects of power on human behavior and the limits of accountability systems - PMC
LockPower is an all-pervasive, and fundamental force in human relationships and plays a valuable role in social, political, and economic interactions. Power differences are important in social groups in enhancing group functioning. Most people want to ...
Source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
sticky-yellowDoes Power Corrupt?
sticky-yellowMAIN IDEA: The Psychology Behind Power
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sticky-yellowJon Snow- A man with no birthright and no power, and no desire for power. He is offered on many different occasions positions of power and he turns the majority down. He prioritizes his duty; protecting the realm over power, truth over popularity, and peace over revenge. Unlike Cersi and Daenerys he doesnt twist his duty to justify violence. Even when in a position of power he never used it in cruel ways; treated his enemies with compassion, refused to punish those who challenged him, always attempts diplomacy, and spares lives whenever possible. He keeps a good counsel and listens to them, and refuses titles that would compromise his morals. He ends the show with no crown or throne although things in the show reveal his birth right.