IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jobhdp/v161y2020icp79-92.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Power decreases the moral condemnation of disgust-inducing transgressions

Author

Listed:
  • Mooijman, Marlon
  • Kouchaki, Maryam
  • Beall, Erica
  • Graham, Jesse

Abstract

Across seven studies (five preregistered), we show that power reduces the degree to which people morally condemn transgressions that elicit disgust. This effect is explained by power reducing the subjective experience of disgust instead of the categorization of behaviors as disgusting. Power does not reliably reduce other negative emotions besides disgust and the impact of power on disgust and moral judgment is attenuated when participants are instructed to appraise impure behaviors as dangerous. These findings challenge the idea that power always increases the severity of moral judgments, shed light on the specific mechanisms by which power colors our judgments of moral right and wrong, and expand theorizing on the impact of power on emotions and moral judgment.

Suggested Citation

  • Mooijman, Marlon & Kouchaki, Maryam & Beall, Erica & Graham, Jesse, 2020. "Power decreases the moral condemnation of disgust-inducing transgressions," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 79-92.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:161:y:2020:i:c:p:79-92
    DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2020.04.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749597820303423
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.obhdp.2020.04.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fast, Nathanael J. & Sivanathan, Niro & Mayer, Nicole D. & Galinsky, Adam D., 2012. "Power and overconfident decision-making," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 117(2), pages 249-260.
    2. Mooijman, Marlon & van Dijk, Wilco W. & van Dijk, Eric & Ellemers, Naomi, 2019. "Leader power, power stability, and interpersonal trust," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 1-10.
    3. Bunmi O Olatunji & Bieke David Puncochar & Rebecca Cox, 2016. "Effects of Experienced Disgust on Morally-Relevant Judgments," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(8), pages 1-19, August.
    4. Brion, Sebastien & Anderson, Cameron, 2013. "The loss of power: How illusions of alliance contribute to powerholders’ downfall," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 121(1), pages 129-139.
    5. Schaerer, Michael & du Plessis, Christilene & Yap, Andy J. & Thau, Stefan, 2018. "Low power individuals in social power research: A quantitative review, theoretical framework, and empirical test," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 73-96.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Feenstra, Sanne & Jordan, Jennifer & Walter, Frank & Stoker, Janka I., 2020. "Antecedents of leaders' power sharing: The roles of power instability and distrust," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 115-128.
    2. Hoever, Inga J. & Betancourt, Nathan E. & Chen, Guoquan & Zhou, Jing, 2023. "How others light the creative spark: Low power accentuates the benefits of diversity for individual inspiration and creativity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    3. Williams, Melissa J. & Lopiano, Gabrielle & Heller, Daniel, 2022. "When the boss steps up: Workplace power, task responsibility, and engagement with unpleasant tasks," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    4. Pai, Jieun & Whitson, Jennifer & Kim, Junha & Lee, Sujin, 2021. "A relational account of low power: The role of the attachment system in reduced proactivity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 28-41.
    5. Etienne Farvaque & Norimichi Matsueda, 2017. "Optimal Term Length For An Overconfident Central Banker," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 62(01), pages 179-192, March.
    6. Leković Milјan, 2020. "Cognitive Biases as an Integral Part of Behavioral Finance," Economic Themes, Sciendo, vol. 58(1), pages 75-96, March.
    7. Miao Xia & Wei Shi & Fulin Wang, 2024. "Impact of Leader’s Goal Framing on Followership Behavior: The Role of Work Meaning and Power Dependence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-19, February.
    8. Song Liu & Hao Zhou, 2020. "The Role of Sense of Power in Alleviating Emotional Exhaustion in Frontline Managers: A Dual Mediation Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-16, March.
    9. Xiaoshuang Lin & Zhen Xiong Chen & Herman H. M. Tse & Wu Wei & Chao Ma, 2019. "Why and When Employees Like to Speak up More Under Humble Leaders? The Roles of Personal Sense of Power and Power Distance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(4), pages 937-950, September.
    10. Waytz, Adam & Chou, Eileen Y. & Magee, Joe C. & Galinsky, Adam D., 2015. "Not so lonely at the top: The relationship between power and loneliness," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 69-78.
    11. Huang, Huilin & Han, Seung Hun & Cho, Kyumin, 2021. "Co-opted Boards, Social Capital, and Risk-taking," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    12. Mourali, Mehdi & Yang, Zhiyong & Pons, Frank & Hassay, Derek, 2018. "Consumer power and choice deferral: The role of anticipated regret," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 81-99.
    13. Kris Byron & Blaine Landis, 2020. "Relational Misperceptions in the Workplace: New Frontiers and Challenges," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(1), pages 223-242, January.
    14. Ling, Leng & Zhou, Xiaorong & Liang, Quanxi & Song, Pingping & Zeng, Haijian, 2016. "Political connections, overinvestments and firm performance: Evidence from Chinese listed real estate firms," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 328-333.
    15. Tuk, Mirjam A. & Verlegh, Peeter W.J. & Smidts, Ale & Wigboldus, Daniël H.J., 2019. "You and I have nothing in common: The role of dissimilarity in interpersonal influence," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 49-60.
    16. Maxime MENUET, 2016. "Does Overconfidence Drag Out War?," LEO Working Papers / DR LEO 2394, Orleans Economics Laboratory / Laboratoire d'Economie d'Orleans (LEO), University of Orleans.
    17. Brady, Garrett L. & Inesi, M. Ena & Mussweiler, Thomas, 2021. "The power of lost alternatives in negotiations," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 59-80.
    18. Andres Felipe Cortes & Andreea N. Kiss, 2023. "Is managerial discretion high in small firms? A theoretical framework," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 157-172, January.
    19. Hershcovis, M. Sandy & Neville, Lukas & Reich, Tara C. & Christie, Amy M. & Cortina, Lilia M. & Shan, J. Valerie, 2017. "Witnessing wrongdoing: The effects of observer power on incivility intervention in the workplace," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 45-57.
    20. Kausel, Edgar E. & Culbertson, Satoris S. & Leiva, Pedro I. & Slaughter, Jerel E. & Jackson, Alexander T., 2015. "Too arrogant for their own good? Why and when narcissists dismiss advice," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 33-50.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Power; Disgust; Moral judgment;
    All these keywords.

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:161:y:2020:i:c:p:79-92. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/obhdp .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.