Sex and situational influences on the use of power: a follow-up study

Patterned after an earlier study of M students conducted by B. Goodstadt & O. Kipnis ("Situational Influences on the Use of Power," Journal of Applied Psychology, 1970, 54, 201-207), sex differences in the use of power are examined. The influence of S's sex & self-confidence & kind of worker problem encountered (motivation vs ability) on the use of reward, expert, & coercive power are investigated in an experiment in which 24 F & 24 M undergraduate business students assumed the role of supervisors interacting with a group of workers in a simulated production situation. To meet & maintain the standard of production set for each task, Ss were permitted to take any one of a number of actions (eg, transfer or increase in pay), each of which represented a different power option, & each of which was communicated with the workers through written messages. Self-ratings of confidence in supervisory ability & manipulation checks were obtained by means of pre- & postquestionnaire instruments. A fixed effects analysis of variance with equal cell frequencies reveals that neither sex of the S nor level of self-confidence influenced the choice of power. Rather, type of worker problem was found to significantly influence the type of power used: ability problems evoked the use of expert & coercive powers, & motivation problems evoked the use of reward powers. It is suggested that differences in power behavior between the sexes may reduce largely to differences in presented & available options. 4 Tables, 1 Appendix, 33 References. Modified AA