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Behaviour variability and the situated focus theory of power

Guinote, Ana (2007) Behaviour variability and the situated focus theory of power. European Review of Social Psychology, 18 (1). pp. 256-295. ISSN 1046-3283. (doi:10.1080/10463280701692813) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:4303)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10463280701692813

Abstract

Power often affects judgement and behaviour differently in different contexts. The present chapter proposes the Situated Focus Theory of Power in an attempt to explain the greater variability in the behaviour and judgements of powerful compared to powerless individuals. It is proposed that power increases attunement to the situation by means of selective attention and processing flexibility. Factors that drive cognition such as motivation (e.g., needs, goals, expectancies), inner experiences (e.g., feelings, ease of retrieval), as well as properties of the environment (e.g., affordances), guide more unequivocally the responses of powerful compared to powerless individuals. Powerful individuals process more extensively information that is relevant compared to information that is irrelevant to these factors, whereas powerless individuals attend more equally to different types of information. These differences in processing focus affect content-free aspects of behaviour. Specifically, power promotes readiness to act, prioritisation, and behaviour variability across situations.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1080/10463280701692813
Uncontrolled keywords: Behaviour variability, Flexibility, Inhibition, Power, Selective attention, Situated cognition
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User: Rosalind Beeching
Date Deposited: 29 Jun 2011 11:50 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 09:42 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/4303 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Guinote, Ana.

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