Study Finds That Having Power Can Make You Stupid
That is, they found that power dependably breeds overconfidence, and overconfidence dependably leads to bad decisions. Nathanael Fast, of the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, Niro Sivanathan, of London Business School, Nicole Mayer, of the University of Illinois, and Adam Galinsky, of the Kellogg School at Northwestern University, noticed two well-known instances of calamitous overconfidence among the powerful: Steve Case‘s blithe orchestration of the $350 billion merger of AOL and Time Warner in 2000, and BP‘s massive obliviousness to risks, under Tony Hayward, that led to the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
The four wanted to know, are such overconfident people drawn to power, or does power itself create their overconfidence?
They had subjects write detailed accounts of times when they had had or had lacked power. They then had them answer a series of factual questions and rate how confident they were about their answers. They found that the people who had been primed to think of themselves as more powerful had more confidence in their answers than the rest—and yet their answers were actually less accurate. Yes, “confidence in one’s answers was inversely correlated with accuracy.”
Four follow-up experiments confirmed and expanded the results. The researchers came to a disturbing conclusion:
Not only do overconfident people tend to acquire roles that afford power . . . but the subjective sense of power brought on by these roles causes people to become further overconfident. . . . Finding practical ways to soften and/or hold in check the causal relationship between power and overconfidence represents an important endeavor for future research. Helping the powerful safely escape this perilous aspect of power is not only in the interest of power holders, but is also in the interest of all who are daily impacted by their decisions.What can you do? One answer, apparently, is to humiliate the powerful. The fifth and final experiment the four conducted found that the tie between power and overconfidence “was eliminated when the powerful were made to feel incompetent.”
The full study is being prepared for publication in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.
Having Power Can Make You Stupid
Whats the old saying, "power corrupts, and absolute power corruipts absolutely", or something like that.
ReplyDeleteAnd corruption has meaning beyond just pecuniary gain....it obviously includes moral and ethical connotations as well.
"Stupid is as stupid does", and boy do we have local examples and case studies !
Veblen Good
Well, if there is better proof of the findings than the purchase of $2.5 million worth of property for athletic fields that the municipality can ill afford to develop for another $3 or 4 million, I'd like to see it.
ReplyDeleteGiffen Good
"What can you do?
ReplyDeleteOne answer, apparently, is to humiliate the powerful. The fifth and final experiment the four conducted found that the tie between power and overconfidence “was eliminated when the powerful were made to feel incompetent.”
I'm not so sure the above is the answer. Our school directors have become so "stupid with power" they are incapable of recognizing their own folly.
Otherwise how do you explain contracting for a $108+ million high school project, then less than 6 months later uncovering a budget shortfall of $2 million+.
Then in a panic to divert attention away from their fiscal ineptitude, they debate spending even more money ($41,000) they don't have in a feasibility study to find out if there are enough sugar daddies to cover their stupid decisions
And all the while granting raises to staff they can't pay.
Incredible.
Andy Bradford
Are you referring to yourself, Elaine??
ReplyDeleteI'm flattered that you think I have power. I just don't understand those who are so unhappy with my blog, continue to read it. Remember, I am just a mom who teaches sewing for a living.
ReplyDeleteElaine
Giffen,you should see me bending spoons with my mind.
ReplyDeleteElaine
[You will read my blog. You will read my blog. You will read my blog...]
"Use the Force, [Elaine]" ;-)
ReplyDeleteBen Obi-Wan Kenobi
My friend is on a roll -
ReplyDeleteThe detrimental effects of power on confidence, advice taking, and accuracy
Elaine
Could it be that somehow we are actually living Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland? My husband Bill Zellers, prominent Mt. Lebanon resident and noted author, and I share an appreciation for the written word. Perhaps Carroll’s literary escapades can explain the unexplainable to these bloggers.
ReplyDelete–Wilma Zellers
Veblen:
The Duchess: There's a large mustard-mine near here. And the moral of that is -- The more there is of mine, the less there is of yours.
Giffen:
Alice: It would be so nice if something made sense for a change.
Andy:
Alice: Curiouser and curiouser!
Anonymous 1:26:
The Queen: Off with her head!
Elaine:
Alice : It would be so nice if something made sense for a change.
Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi
Alice: I think I should understand that better, if I had it written down: but I can't quite follow it as you say it.
All:
The Mock Turtle: Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with, and then the different branches of arithmetic -- Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.
And to the subject(s) of “How’s this for a study?”:
Alice: I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!
Giffen, I received a response from that unhappy person who is forced to read my blog. It was not worth publishing, but they were critical of you this time.
ReplyDeleteElaine
Of course they were. Don't evaluate, analyse, or critique what is actually going on here.
ReplyDeleteDon't think about the absurdity of pushing a green agenda, while at the same time supporting increased engery consumption and pollution thru artificial turf and stadium lighting.
I'll bet they are one of those people that believe "they" and only "they" - "disagree without being disagreeable."
Giffen Good
I laughed when I read it. I decided to publish it here.
ReplyDelete"Truth hurts, eh, Elaine. And the only unhappy one seems to be you and your "many" readers, "worldwide"."
It has been documented that we have almost 4,000 unhappy people here. For some reason, I have gotten the attention of CBS Pittsburgh, the Post Gazette, the Trib, and the New York Times.
Oh yeah...ouch.
Elaine
This article should clear things up:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.agu.org/news/archives/2010-01-15_ClaireDworksy_BrightSTaRS.shtml
David Huston
David, those are startling conclusions!
ReplyDeleteRunoff water from grass and artificial turf soccer fields
Elaine
By the way, forgot to add, I'd suggest publishing the comment. It's only fair and adds insight into the mindset of the contributor.
ReplyDeleteIt's your blog though Elaine and to publish or not is your prerogative.
I enjoy reading all the comments here, one doesn't learn much listening only to people that think alike.
Giffen Good
Giffen, I published it in my 10:00 AM comment. It doesn't offer much as far as insight.
ReplyDeleteElaine
Mr. Huston, that is pretty damning evidence against the installation of artificial turf.
ReplyDeleteLeaves me wondering where the MTL Environmental Sustainibility Board has been hiding on this issue?
Thought they were tasked with protecting the health of our kids and the environment.
Giffen Good
Sorry to disagree, Elaine, but it does speak volumes.
ReplyDeleteThey don't have much to contribute and don't want to learn.
Giffen Good
Mr. Good, the Environmental Sustainability Board is too busy making "No Idling" signs for Horsman where there is now no parking at all.
ReplyDeleteToo bad they don't care about heavy construction vehicles burning diesel oil all day long not far from the same parking spots.
David Huston
That and trying to figure out what to do with all those flawed and debunked Michael Mann Global Warming textbooks that they lobbied for.
ReplyDeleteGiffen Good
Michael Mann textbooks are brainwashing children. Bill Hook
ReplyDeleteWell Mr. Hook, you might want to pay close attention MTL magazine and the municipality Environmental Sustainability Board.
ReplyDeleteGiffen Good