Power and Social Influence

Levi Chapter 8

What will we learn today? A bunch of definitions: power, social

influence, compliance, acceptance Some social psychology experiments: Asch

and Milgram How people influence each other and more

definitions: soft power and harsh power There’s a power cycle and interdependence

wins Empower the people: the Saturn Model Assertiveness training is effective for groups

and a fun exercise!

Social Influence

Attempts to affect or change others

Power

Ability to change beliefs, attitudes or behaviors of others

Collective Power of Groups

Compliance

Change in behavior due to social pressure but not change in beliefs or attitudes

Acceptance

Change in both behaviors and attitudes due to social pressure

How does this happen?

Normative influence: desire to meet expectations of others and be accepted

Informational influence: accept information from others about a situation

Conformity Experiments

Asch (1955): choose a line that is same as target line• those alone rarely made errors•when in group with members giving wrong answers, they gave wrong answers more often•only 20% did not give in to group pressure

Why?

Informational, they must have misunderstood the instructions

Normative, group would disapprove of them for different answers

Nonconformists were rated as undesirable members

Obedience Experiments

Milgram (1974): participants asked to send electric shocks to learners when they made a mistake•65% continued to give shocks even at dangerous levels•authority figure did not have power to reward or punish but still obtained significant obedience from participants

What did we learn today?

Groups are like sheep

Types of Power

Personal (Soft Power)

Positional (Harsh Power)

Expert: has expertise Legitimate: has authority

Referent: has admiration Reward: has the reward

Information: has knowledge Coercive: has the punishment

Personal > Positional

Influence Tactics

Social Influence Tactic

Definition Strategy

*Rational Argument Uses logical arguments

Cooperative

*Consultation Seeks others in decision

Cooperative

*Inspirational appeals

Appeals to person’s ideals

Relies on emotion

Personal appeals Uses loyalty Direct, overt

Ingratiation Uses flattery Indirect, covert

Exchange Offers favors Relies on support

Pressure Uses threats Direct, overt

Legitimizing tactics Claims authority Direct, overt

Coalition tactics Seeks aid of others to increase power

Indirect, covert

What did we learn today?

People are manipulative

Power Dynamics

Corruptive Effect of Power

Power seeks more power

“All animals are equal, but some are more equal.”

George Orwell, Animal Farm

Power Cycle

Access leads to use

Belief of being in control

Takes credit and views target less

worthy

Target’s worth diminished

increasing social distance

Self-esteem elevated

Power Inequity within Team Impacts trust and

communication Influenced by

status Norms can

equalize

Minority Influence

Consistency Self-confidence Autonomy Relationship to

larger group Provides

alternative perspective

Impact of Interdependence

What did we learn today?

The best teams have Kumbaya

Empowerment

In the workplace is the concept of shifting “power and authority” from managers to employees.

Empowerment-benefit

Workers have increase in motivation and job satisfaction

Improvement noted in Customer service Quality “thru put”

Empowerment-risk

Employers loose “control” Managers are held accountable for

final output but they may be asked to relinquish power to employees 72% of supervisors believe

empowerment is good for the organization yet only 31% believe that it is good for supervisors

Saturn Model of Employee Empowerment

Change the company structure so that employees have more power on their jobs. ▪ If jobs are strongly controlled by

organizational procedures or if every little decision needs to be approved by a superior, employees are unlikely to feel empowered. Give them discretion at work.

Saturn Model of Employee Empowerment

Provide employees with access to information about things that affect their work. ▪ When employees have the information they

need to do their jobs well and understand company goals, priorities, and strategy, they are in a better position to feel empowered.

Saturn Model of Employee Empowerment

Make sure that employees know how to perform their jobs. This involves selecting the right people

as well as investing in continued training and development.

Saturn Model of Employee Empowerment

Do not take away employee power. If someone makes a decision, let it stand

unless it threatens the entire company. If management undoes decisions made by employees on a regular basis, employees will not believe in the sincerity of the empowerment initiative.

Saturn Model of Employee Empowerment

Instill a climate of empowerment in which managers do not routinely step in and take over. Instead, believe in the power of

employees to make the most accurate decisions, as long as they are equipped with the relevant facts and resources.

Saturn Model

What did we learn today?

Give the power to the people

Application: Acting Assertively

Assertiveness is a skill and an attitude

Power Styles

PASSIVE (nonassertive)

AGGRESSIVE

ASSERTIVE

- polite and deferential; avoids confrontation; refuses to take a stand; - driven by insecurity, anxiety, fear- goal: to gain approval and be liked

- forceful, critical, negative- driven by anger, insecurity, distrust- goal: to win (without compromise)

- clear, confident and diplomatic communication (not emotional)- driven by high self-esteem; respect and concern for both others and oneself- goal: to find the best solution

Power Styles

STYLE CHARACTERISTICS IMPACT (ON SELF AND OTHERS)

UTILITY

passive (nonassertive)

- polite, deferential- avoids confrontation- refuses to take a stand

stress, resentment------------------------confusion, no respect

- dangerous/ emotional situations - unequal status

aggressive

- forceful, critical, negative - refuses to compromise- focus is on winning

satisfaction------------------------resentment, withdrawal

- emergency situations- an impasse- unequal status

assertive - clear, confident, open- respects self and others- focus on problem solving

satisfaction------------------------trust, communication

- MOST SITUATIONS- equal status

And the winner is...

The ASSERTIVE style is most conducive to effective teamwork

Assertiveness can be encouraged by:

1) EQUALIZING POWER among team members

2) ASSERTIVENESS TRAINING

Assertiveness training

Active listening

Positive recognition

Clear expectations

Saying “no”

Assertive withdrawal

What did we learn today?

Encourage assertiveness

References

Levi, Daniel. Group Dynamics for Teams. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, 2007. 129-146. Print

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of Evil, or Working towards the Führer?" The Exeter Blog RSS. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.

"Appinions: The Science of Influence Marketing." Appinions Does Popularity Equal Social Influence Comments. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.

"A Perfect World." - Archives, 2005, 193. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. "MeshIP® Blog." MeshIP Blog. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. "Quality Management 2.0 Blog." Quality 101: Employee Involvement and

Empowerment. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. Fryer, Lashon. "The Definition of Employee Empowerment | EHow." EHow.

Demand Media, 09 June 2009. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. “Expressing vs Acting Out Anger: Assertiveness." How To Lose Control and

Gain Emotional Freedom. Web. 19 Oct. 2013.

Group Activities: this will be fun!Teams: Choose your roles. Design a skit with examples of

assertiveness in a team member (italics):Medical Team: attending, fellow, resident, student Task: Discussing a case at rounds, medical student wants to have

some input but resident is trying to impress attendingInter-professional team 1: Physician, Nurse, Social Worker, Physical

Therapist Task: Patient has dementia and will need arrangements for chronic

care, social worker wants to make team aware that family has few resources

Inter-professional team 2: Trauma Surgeon, ER physician, Trauma Nurse, Laboratory Tech

Task: Team is meeting to improve patient safety in trauma ER, power struggle between trauma surgeon and ER physician

Research Team: PI, Grad Student, Undergrad Student, Research Technologist

Task: Team is meeting to decide how they will get research project submitted by deadline, research tech feels overwhelmed