Upward power tendencies in a hierarchy: Power Distance Theory versus bureaucratic rule
| Autor: | J. Jan Bruins, Henk A. M. Wilke |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 1993 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | European Journal of Social Psychology, 23(3), 239-254. Wiley |
| ISSN: | 1099-0992 0046-2772 |
| DOI: | 10.1002/ejsp.2420230303 |
| Popis: | Two contrasting notions concerning upward power tendencies within hierarchically structured groups are investigated. Power Distance Theory assumes that people have a desire for power that results in a tendency to reduce the power distance towards a more powerful other, and this tendency is assumed to be stronger the smaller the power distance. The bureaucratic rule implies that a vacant position may only be taken over by someone from the level immediately below the vacant position.In Experiment 1, power distance from the top position of a hierarchy was manipulated by assigning 120 subjects to a higher or a lower position in a power hierarchy. Results showed that only the motivation derived from the bureaucratic rule (i.e. entitlement) mediated the relationship between power distance and upward tendencies.In Experiment 2, a more pertinent test of the two theoretical notions was performed by assigning 139 subjects to one of three positions. The main results were consistent with the bureaucratic rule: (1) subjects immediately below the top position showed a stronger upward tendency towards this position than subjects in the two lower positions, whereas no differences were found between subjects in these two lower positions; (2) again only entitlement mediated the relationship between power distance and upward tendencies. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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