Power & Authority Flashcards
5 types of power
- Coersive
- Reward
- Leadership/Authority
- Expert
- Referent
What is Coersive power?
the capability to punish. eg some managers try to publically humiliate or fire someone to show authority
What is reward power?
the ability to reward someone so what they have done
What is leadership/authority power?
when someone has an officially sanctioned position. it can be backed by social or cultural goals eg lecturer
what is expert power?
power people give you because they think you have expert task knowledge
what is referent power?
people grant you power as they look upto you/are loyal to you
what are 3 ways of getting people to do something that they didnt want to do initially
- persuation
- use of power
- moral disengagement
what is moral disengagement?
self persuation to enable activities that cause discomfort
what are the 6 principles of persuasion?
- Liking
- Reciprocity
- Social Proof
- Consistency
- Authority
- Scarcity
what is liking?
people are more likely to comply with requests of people they know and like
why does liking work?
we believe that people who like us would not take advantage of them.
5 factors that influence liking
- similarity
- praise
- association
- physical attractgiveness
- repeated contact/exposure
what is reprocity?
people feel obliged to repay others
why does reprocity work?
- creates a sense of obligation where the recepient feels guilty if they dont reciprocate
- gives us confidence that people will give us something in return
2 reprocity techniques
- door in the face
- thats not all
what is door in the face technique
make a ridiculous offer that will be rejected, then make a more reasonable offer that is likely to be accepted
what is thats not all technique
make a ridiculous offer then give a bonus/disocunt on top
what is social proof?
we follow in the lead of others
why does social proof work?
- generally we make fewer mistakes by following others/paying attention to what they’re doing
- following in the lead of others is
what is consistency?
when people allign themselves with clear commitments, they are more likely to follow through
why does consistency work?
personal consistency is valued in society and if we don’t commit, our personal reputation is ruined.
4 techniques based on consistency
- foot in the door
- low ball
- labelling
- legitimisation of paltry favours
what is foot in the door?
you start with a small request so that they will eventually comply with a larger request
what is labelling?
label someone in a way and then ask for a request that is based around this label eg you’re so helpful, can you help me clean
what is low ball?
get someone to commit to a low cost request then reveal extra hidden costs
what is legitimisation of paltry favours?
make a small amount of aid acceptable eg itll only take 5 mins of your time
what is authority?
peeople defer to experts
why does authoirty work?
we have been socialised to obey and respectauthority figures as they have knowledge, power and wisdom
what is scarcity?
we want more of something there is less of
why does scarcity work
things that are difficult to obtain are seen as higher in value. As we lose things we lose our freedom - people hate to lose freedom they already have
what is cognitive dissonance?
a feeling of discomfort stemming from holding 2 contradictory ideas simultaneously. once we commit to something, if we change our mind, we either accept that what we were doing was wrong or we adjust our perceptions
what is agentic shift?
a shift from autonomy to agency - we lose individuality and decision making power and accept that we are a tool. the power is given to a authoritive figure
6 types of moral disengagement
- Moral justification:
- Euphemistic labelling:
- Advantageous comparison
- Distortion of consequences:
- Diffusion of responsibility:
- Displacement of responsibility:
what is moral justification?
framing a negative activity as a service for the greater good.
what is euphemistic labelling?
using pleasant language to describe the negative behaviours as a way to make it seem more benign.
what is Advantageous comparison
comparing your behaviour to an even worse behaviour so it makes it seem that what
you are doing is fine.
what is distortion of consequences
minimising, ignoring or distorting the seriousness of the effects of one’s actions
what is diffusion of responsibility
attributing the blame for one’s actions to the system in which one is in.
what is displacement of responsibility
attributing the responsibility of one’s actions to an authority figure, the agentic
shift.
3 ways to prevent moral disengagement
- clear atriculated value systems - clear rules so situation wont affect us
- accountability partner that you trust - someone you can open upto that wont influence your decision
- what if other people found out how would you feel?
