Social Influence Strategies: The Impact of Sex, Role and Attitudes Toward Power

Subjects were asked to rate the likelihood of their taking each of 4O actions in order to get their own way in an organizational dispute in which they were either an employee or a supervisor. The 40 strategies clustered into eight factors. Women reported a greater likelihood of using Personal/Dependent and Negotiation strategies than men; men reported a greater likelihood of using Reward/Coercion and Indirect strategies than women. Persons in supervisory roles reported less likelihood of withdrawing and negotiating, as well as a greater likelihood of using Unilateral strategies than persons in employee roles. Attitudes toward power also affected strategy choice, with negative attitudes toward having power associated with a greater usage of Withdrawal and Negotiation and less likelihood of employing Reasoning, Pressure, or Unilateral strategies. Concern about others' power was associated with increased use of Indirect and Withdrawal strategies, and less likelihood of using Reasoning. Women and persons in supervisory roles were more likely to hold negative attitudes toward having power than men and persons in employee roles, whereas men were more likely to hold negative attitudes toward powerful others.