Kent Carpenter

Mrs. Thomas
UWRT 1102-021
30 November 2015

Reflection
Throughout my research into the affects of power on people Ive seen that the overwhelming
majority of researchers conclude that power is a negative thing. In my personal opinion, I feel
like power can be a positive as well if used in the right way. Ive also found that by having used
seven sources, I feel like I have enough sources to write an eight-page paper on the affects of
power. The main concern I have is tying all of my points together so that my paper flows
effectively. I also try to make sure I cite everyone correctly and I do the right in text citations.
How Will Power Consume You?
Power. Something so many of us crave and need. Its something that can drive us to
ultimately be very successful or lead to our downfall. Power affects different people in very
unique ways. There has been research on the various ways power can change a person
psychologically leading to changes in their social life as well as other areas in their life. While
trying to achieve power can lead to success in a career, we have to ask the question, is success
and trying to attain power worth it? Power doesnt just affect our careers though; it can also
change our personal lives in a number of different ways. Through different research, I will
explain the different affects of power and how it can influence someone.
Chris Benderev, from NPR, writes an article titled, When Power Goes To Your Head, It
May Shut Our Your Heart. He writes about research conducted by a neuroscientist, Sukhvinder

Obhi, from Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada about how power can change the way
the brain operates. Obhi, and fellow researchers, Jermey Hogeveen and Michael Inslicht, conduct
research where they put people into two groups; one in the mindset of being powerless and
another in the mindset of being in power. The powerless group was to write journal entries about
when they needed others for help and the group that felt powerful was to write an entry about
when they were in charge. Then everyone in both groups was to watch a video where a hand
squeezes a rubber ball a few times, and during the video Obhi monitored the participants brains,
looking mainly at the region, the mirror system. The mirror system contains neurons that become
active when someone watches someone do something or when someone does an action
themselves. The main thing Obhi and his team wanted to find out was whether or not feeling
powerful or powerless would affect how the mirror system. The research concluded that the
powerless group empathized highly compared to the powerful group. Dacher Keltner, a social
psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley said, "What we're finding is power
diminishes all varieties of empathy. He concludes that the results of this study go along with the
trend within psychological research. The research comes to the conclusion that power leaves
people without empathy for others but powerful people can eventually learn to be more
compassionate. Power may leave people without empathy for people but I think that on some
level, powerful people need to be less empathetic. If the person in charge were always feeling
bad for his or her subordinates, then no one would ever be fired or reprimanded if the job wasnt
being done correctly.
How does power affect the powerful? Bryce Nelson of the New York Times writes about
what affect power has on the powerful. He states that, power - although it can have significant
negative effects - seems more positive for the person who wields it than it is corrupting. Dr.

George H. Pollock, head of the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis, that people with little or no
power are actually more likely to be depressed and suffer from mental problems. He makes the
case that being powerless can cause people to become more corrupt than having power. When
people move up in a company and are promoted to positions where they can have more power, it
gives them a psychic lift and has been compared to a heroin high. Dr. Bertram S. Brown,
president of Hahnemann University in Philadelphia said, counseling of people who hold power
in Washington has convinced him that exercising power is the most effective short-range
antidepressant in the world. Dr. Morris E. Chafetz agrees saying, Men who do not look
attractive before they achieve power suddenly have great attractiveness to women, an appeal they
lose the moment they leave power. Chafetz claims power can even be an aphrodisiac.
But with all the positives of power, Nelson addresses the negatives as well saying that
they weigh heavily against the positives. Nelson writes that, Isolation is felt both by those who
achieve power and those who are left behind. A friend in power is a friend lost. He goes on to
say that people with low self control have a problem when they attain power because many times
it can lead to drug addiction as well as losing loved ones in their life. It is also difficult for people
in power to relate to someone below them once theyre in power. For example, in high school
when I was named captain of the football team, I found it more challenging to listen to the
underclassmen because I felt like their input wasnt as important as my own. I dont think I was
wrong for feeling this way because I was a captain for a reason, but as a leader it may have been
wise to listen to someone below me. Powerful people generally want to be with other powerful
people causing a big divide between them and their subordinates. Many times in order for
someone to get a powerful persons attention flattery is used. But Nelson states the danger of
this, The propensity of followers to flatter and of the powerful to listen to flattery helps create

one of the greatest dangers of holding power - reduced ability to see reality and to make wise
decisions. It is difficult for the general to repel the opposing army's surprise attack from the rear
if his adjutants keep telling him what a wonderful job he is doing facing down the hostile force in
front. Its hard for people in power to see clearly when theyre being complemented all of the
time. It goes to their heads. David C. McClelland, a Harvard professor of psychology, says,
Americans are proud of having a high need to achieve, but dislike being told they have a high
need for power. As a society Americans generally want things but wont admit to it because of
how it may be perceived. McClelland concludes this is from religious views that exalt lowly
status or political ideas about rebelling against power as the reason that most Americans wont
admit that they have a desire for power. Nelson concludes that overall, the positives of power out
weigh the negatives, but just by a small margin.
How does power affect the brain? Power can and will change how someone thinks. Its
just natural for someone who has obtained power to get used to it and let it affect him or her
mentally. When people feel powerful or feel powerless, it influences their perception of
others, states Andy J. Yap, a psychologist at Columbia University. Powerful people see others as
less than what they are and powerless people often elevate people that may not need to be
elevated. In our minds we often place smallness or weakness with powerless. Brian Resnick from
The Atlantic writes,
Researchers have even found you can make someone feel power just by posing them in a
dominant, expansive body position. Like athletes, for example: Arms outstretch, back
arched. Even blind athletes have been known, upon victory, to strike the same pose. They
didn't learn it by seeing anyone do it. There's something fundamental.
Power affects the regions of the frontal lobes of the brain. This part of the brain is the part that

detects others pain. The empathy network. If damage is done to this part of the brain it makes
people become very impulsive. Leigh Weingus from The Huffington Post states, Through brain
trauma, you become a sociopath. Our lab studies find if you give people a little bit of power, they
look kind of like those brain trauma patients. When you feel powerful, you kind of lose touch
with other people. You stop attending carefully to what other people think." People are wired to
care. Power can sometimes take away from that and we may not care as much.
Abraham Lincoln once said, If you want to test a man's character, give him power. I think he is
alluding to the point that power brings out peoples true qualities. When someone is in power they
dont have to worry as much about offending anyone, so they can be themselves. Power, instead
of making people conform, will cause people to break free of social norms and ones true self
will shine through.
Joe Magee, a power researcher and professor of management at New York University
says, Power isnt corrupting; its freeing. Many people assume power will affect someone
negatively but that isnt always the case. If power is what it takes for people to be their true
selves, maybe more people need to strive for power so that they can become who they really are.
Several benefits of powerful people is that they are more likely to take a decisive action, see the
bigger picture opposed to smaller consequences, they are probably not going to worry about the
risks of obtaining a goal, and they experience more testosterone and less cortisol (a stress
hormone). Magee also says that, Power is to be free of the punishment that one could exert
upon you for the thing you did. He is saying that powerful people are free to make choices
without worrying about others mocking them for the choice they made. Being in power is a
positive because people can act the way they would if no one was watching them. Magee says,
This means that people with power not only take what they want because they can do so

unpunished, but also because they intuitively feel they are entitled to do so. Conversely,
people who lack power not only fail to get what they need because they are disallowed to
take it, but also because they intuitively feel they are not entitled to it.
For me, when Im in charge, I feel like I can be totally myself. It helps me feel like even if Im
wrong I can still take a chance or go a different route than I would normally go. Being in charge
has more responsibilities than following but it also has a bigger reward, so I think thats why
being in charge is so fulfilling. The credit for getting the job done goes mainly to the boss and I
think thats why many people are drawn to being the boss or the one in charge.
There is slight hypocrisy to this though. People in power do have to answer to someone,
usually a group of people. Its not like powerful people can just do whatever they want to do all
the time and have no consequences. The power can cloud their brains to think that they dont
have to be held accountable and they can get away with anything. It is seen so often when
politicians are in positions of power they commit infidelity. Bill Clinton, Arnold
Schwarzenegger, John Edwards, Anthony Weiner, are just a few examples of someone in power
cheating on a spouse. This goes back to power affecting the part of the brain that senses when
others are in pain. Powerful people dont care as much about how their actions will affect the
person they love, or anyone for that matter, they care more about how they can gain happiness
even if it means hurting everyone in their path. There was a survey conducted of 1,500 people
and people high up on the corporate ladder were much more likely to cheat on their spouse than
their subordinates. Yap says, Dishonesty and power go hand-in-hand. There are more examples
of powerful people doing bad things because thats what the media and our society as a whole
gravitates to. There arent as many articles about powerful people giving to charity or doing
something good for the community, as there are articles about powerful people cheating on their

spouses or being horrible to their employees. Pamela Smith, a power researcher at the University
of California San Diego states,
There is a tendency for people to assume power holders are uncaring, they're cold, they
don't care about the little people. You put someone in an experiment, temporarily, in a
high-powered role, and what you find is that people who say they have pro-social values,
the more power they have, the more pro-social they are. The people who say they have
more self-centered values tend to be more selfish the more power they have.
This goes back to the point that peoples true character shines when theyre in power. If someone
is naturally a giving person, being in power could facilitate them giving to people but if someone
is a naturally selfish person, then being in power will only cause him or her to be as selfish as
that person can possibly be. Yap closes with the conclusion that if powerful people are more self
aware of how power can change them, maybe they can correct themselves before they go too far.
Someone has to be in power. Our society is built around the concept of someone leading
and others following. Some people are born to lead while others are born to follow. We need both
types of people in the world because without leaders, the followers would have no one to follow
and without followers, the leaders would have no one to lead. Its how one leads people that
make all the difference in the world. For example, in my own life Ive grown up watching my
grandfather run the business he started 50 years ago. My dad, who works for my grandfather,
talks about how over the years as the company has grown more and more and become more
successful, he says the power has gone to my grandfathers head. He used to care about his
employees and want the best for them when the company was in its early stages, but now all he
cares about is turning a profit and making sure no one, not even his own family take away any of
his power along the way. He treats his family like employees, expecting them to work for him,

and after something is accomplished, my grandfather usually receives all the credit. Thats not a
good leader of a family or boss, but it is an example of how power can totally change someones
point of view and how he or she treats others.
On the flip side, Ive seen power be used for good. My dad works under my grandfather
but tries to use the power he has to help people. He hires people that may not have much going
for them and he helps them out as much as he can. This is an example of someone in a position
of power and still being in touch with the people that work for him. But he is still new to being in
a position of power, so there is a chance he could slowly but surely turn into my grandfather and
not care about others. I dont see this happening because peoples true character shines when they
are in power and my grandfather is naturally a selfish and greedy person, so when he obtained
power that showed, but my dad is a giving and caring person naturally, so he probably will not
end up like his father.
I think that power can defiantly be used for good but there are many negatives to the
positives. But it isnt a black or white area. There is a lot of grey area when it comes to the
discussion of power. Some people can handle it and it will have no affect on the way they treat
people and it doesnt change their personalities at all. But more times than not people will be
totally different when they gain power. Power is something that will always be present in our
society. Someone will always be in charge of others. We couldnt function with all followers and
no leader, it wouldnt be a healthy society and nothing would ever get done. We also wouldnt
get anything accomplished if the world was full of leaders and no followers as well. We need a
good mix.
Power affects people in the same way. It shows their true character by letting them be
themselves. Selfish people that are in power are going to be selfish and will use their power to

their advantage to get what they want. On the opposite side, caring people when in power will
use the power and leverage they have to help people. Gandhi said, Power is of two kinds. One is
obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a
thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment. He
is saying what I have stated earlier, that power affects people in different ways and one way is
through fear and the other through love. Love is a greater tool for people in power to use to lead
the people that are following them. Power can be the greatest thing for someone to be able to be
their true self and not worry as much about what others think but it can have as much of a
negative affect as a positive one. It is all about how someone uses his or her power that makes
the difference. Power can corrupt as much as it can free someone. Its all about how you let it get
to you.