Power, Approach, and Inhibition

This paper examines how power influences human behavior. We posit that elevated power is associated with increased rewards and the freedom to act upon rewards, and thereby activates approach-related tendencies. Reduced power, in contrast, is associated with increased threat, punishment, and social constraint, and thereby activates inhibition-related tendencies. We derive predictions from recent theorizing about approach and inhibition and review relevant evidence. Specifically, power is associated with (a) positive affect, (b) attention to rewards, (c) automatic information processing and snap judgments, and (d) disinhibited social behavior. In contrast, reduced power is associated with (a) negative affect, (b) attention to threat and punishment, to others