

The Destructive Nature of Power without Status - wallflower
http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~nathanaf/power_without_status.pdf

======
gwern
Abstract:

> The current research explores how roles that possess power but lack status
> influence behavior toward others. Past research has primarily examined the
> isolated effects of having either power or status, but we propose that power
> and status interact to affect interpersonal behavior. Based on the notions
> that a) low-status is threatening and aversive and b) power frees people to
> act on their internal states and feelings, we hypothesized that power
> without status fosters demeaning behaviors toward others. To test this idea,
> we orthogonally manipulated both power and status and gave participants the
> chance to select activities for their partners to perform. As predicted,
> individuals in high-power/low-status roles chose more demeaning activities
> for their partners (e.g., bark like a dog, say “I am filthy”) than did those
> in any other combination of power and status roles. We discuss how these
> results clarify, challenge, and advance the existing power and status
> literatures.

