The Psychological Rewards from Using Power to Harm Others

• In Event: 40268 - New Looks at Old Theories

Abstract

From microaggressions and subtle slights at work to police violence, mass shootings, and other forms of physical violence, harmful uses of power in interpersonal interactions cause enormous suffering and are a fundamental obstacle to creating a safe and inclusive society. Importantly, harm is not perpetrated equally across groups as individuals in higher-status groups have more power and therefore more opportunity to use it in ways that harm others, making individuals in lower-status groups more vulnerable to experiencing harm. In this research project, we explore the motivation for perpetrating harm. Specifically, we seek to identify the psychological rewards (separate from material rewards) people experience when they use power to harm others. Using self-determination theory as a guiding framework, we conduct experiments threatening the sense of control, efficacy, and belonging of participants in the experimental condition and then provide opportunities for participants to harm someone else. We hypothesize that those in the experimental condition will be more likely to perpetrate harm than those in the control condition. We then investigate the psychological rewards participants receive from harming. We hypothesize that harming someone else may increase the sense of control / efficacy / belonging participants feel. This research sheds light on the psychological rewards people receive from using power to harm others, pointing the way toward potential interventions to reduce the use of harm in interpersonal interactions. We discuss how our findings relate to inequalities across axes of status and power difference.

Authors

• Christianne Corbett, University of Arkansas

• Charles Steven Grugan, University of Arkansas

• Chase Jon Freeman, University of Arkansas

• Eliza Staton

• Cecilia L. Ridgeway, Stanford University