Powerful people feel inspired chiefly by themselves
People in positions of power feel more inspired by themselves than by other people, while people with less power also draw inspiration from others. That is a conclusion reached by a group of Dutch and American researchers under the leadership of Gerben van Kleef, Professor by Special Appointment of Society and Organisation-related Psychological Aspects of Pro-social Behaviour at the UvA, in an article published recently in Social Psychological and Personality Science.
Van Kleef and his colleagues were not totally surprised to find that powerful people serve as their own main source of inspiration. ‘From my own observations I had noticed that people in more senior positions find themselves very interesting, and that they talk a lot while not listening well. Observations like these formed the source of inspiration for this study. Moreover, earlier research had already shown that powerful people take less account of others and devote less attention to them. It would seem that powerful people see themselves as the centre of the universe. Our hypothesis, namely that powerful people feel inspired chiefly by themselves, was based on this.’
Special research aspect: live interaction between trial subjects
The research comprised four experiments with different participants in both the United States and the Netherlands. In one of the studies, trial subjects were asked to complete a validated questionnaire which revealed how much power they wield. Then the researchers had powerful and less powerful people talk to each other for five minutes about an inspiring event. Following this both participants completed a questionnaire focusing on the question: to what extent did you experience the conversation as inspiring? Van Kleef: ‘The experiment indicated very clearly that powerful people were more inspired by what they themselves had to say than by their discussion partner. This did not apply to the less powerful participants, who were also inspired by the stories of others. Although time-consuming, this research plan did give a realistic picture of how inspiration can arise during live interactions.’
Written assignment with oneself in the leading role
In another experiment the trial subjects were asked to write an account of an event that they had found inspiring. Before they started a certain feeling was trigged in them: a sense of being powerful, or the opposite. ‘This study showed that people experienced more inspiration after writing about themselves as compared to writing about someone else, especially when they were “primed” with power.’
Emotional intelligence makes way for narcissism
The results of this study point to an interesting paradox. ‘Previous research indicates that people with a higher emotional intelligence have a better chance of acquiring a position of leadership in a group. However, once they have “seized” power, their emotional intelligence quickly makes way for more narcissistic tendencies. This may be a functional process – as a high-ranking leader you also need the ability to make tough decisions – but it can also work against people in powerful positions because they no longer listen to other people who offer good advice.’