New York University, NY 10012, USA.
Pers Soc Psychol Rev. 2013 May;17(2):158-86. doi: 10.1177/1088868312472732. Epub 2013 Jan 24.
We propose that asymmetric dependence between individuals (i.e., power) produces asymmetric social distance, with high-power individuals feeling more distant than low-power individuals. From this insight, we articulate predictions about how power affects (a) social comparison, (b) susceptibility to influence, (c) mental state inference and responsiveness, and (d) emotions. We then explain how high-power individuals' greater experienced social distance leads them to engage in more abstract mental representation. This mediating process of construal level generates predictions about how power affects (a) goal selection and pursuit, (b) attention to desirability and feasibility concerns, (c) subjective certainty, (d) value-behavior correspondence, (e) self-control, and (f) person perception. We also reassess the approach/inhibition theory of power, noting limitations both in what it can predict and in the evidence directly supporting its proposed mechanisms. Finally, we discuss moderators and methodological recommendations for the study of power from a social distance perspective.
我们提出，个体之间的非对称依赖（即权力）产生了非对称的社会距离，高权力个体比低权力个体感到更为疏远。基于这一观点，我们阐述了权力如何影响（a）社会比较、（b）易受影响性、（c）心理状态推断和反应以及（d）情绪的预测。然后，我们解释了高权力个体更大的体验到的社会距离如何导致他们更多地进行抽象的心理表征。这种解释水平的中介过程产生了关于权力如何影响（a）目标选择和追求、（b）对期望性和可行性问题的关注、（c）主观确定性、（d）价值-行为一致性、（e）自我控制和（f）人物感知的预测。我们还重新评估了权力的接近/回避理论，指出了它在预测能力和直接支持其提出的机制的证据方面都存在局限性。最后，我们从社会距离的角度讨论了权力研究的调节变量和方法建议。
