Hofmann Eva, Hartl Barbara, Gangl Katharina, Hartner-Tiefenthaler Martina, Kirchler Erich
Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry UniversityCoventry, UK; Faculty of Psychology, University of ViennaVienna, Austria.
Faculty of Psychology, University of ViennaVienna, Austria; Institute of Organization and Global Management Education, Johannes Kepler UniversityLinz, Austria.
Front Psychol. 2017 Jan 18;8:5. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00005. eCollection 2017.
The execution of coercive and legitimate power by an authority assures cooperation and prohibits free-riding. While coercive power can be comprised of severe punishment and strict monitoring, legitimate power covers expert, and informative procedures. The perception of these powers wielded by authorities stimulates specific cognitions: trust, relational climates, and motives. With four experiments, the single and combined impact of coercive and legitimate power on these processes and on intended cooperation of n = 120, n = 130, n = 368, and n = 102 student participants is investigated within two exemplary contexts (tax contributions, insurance claims). Findings reveal that coercive power increases an antagonistic climate and enforced compliance, whereas legitimate power increases reason-based trust, a service climate, and voluntary cooperation. Unexpectedly, legitimate power is additionally having a negative effect on an antagonistic climate and a positive effect on enforced compliance; these findings lead to a modification of theoretical assumptions. However, solely reason-based trust, but not climate perceptions and motives, mediates the relationship between power and intended cooperation. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
权威行使强制性权力和合法权力可确保合作并禁止搭便车行为。强制性权力可能包括严厉惩罚和严格监督，而合法权力涵盖专业知识和信息程序。对权威行使这些权力的认知会激发特定的认知：信任、关系氛围和动机。通过四项实验，在两个示例性情境（纳税、保险理赔）中研究了强制性权力和合法权力对这些过程以及120名、130名、368名和102名学生参与者预期合作的单一及综合影响。研究结果表明，强制性权力会加剧对抗氛围并强化服从，而合法权力会增加基于理性的信任、服务氛围和自愿合作。出乎意料的是，合法权力对对抗氛围还有负面影响，对强化服从有正面影响；这些发现导致了理论假设的修正。然而，只有基于理性的信任，而非氛围认知和动机，在权力与预期合作之间起中介作用。文中讨论了对理论和实践的启示。
