Social Power and Interactional Style in the Divorce Attorney/Client Dyad

Based on the French and Raven typological model of social power, this field study examined divorce clients' perceptions of the ways in which their attorneys attempted to influence their actions. Data were generated from surveys mailed to divorce petitioners in three California counties. Five bases of source-dependent social power are identified in the French and Raven model: reward power, coercive power, referent power, expert power and legitimate power. Clients were asked to recall the frequency with their lawyers made various statements, each of which exemplified one of these power bases. Multiple regression analyses employed attorneys' usage of these various bases as predictors of clients' ratings of the competence of their lawyer and of their satisfaction with him or her. Although clients indicated their lawyers most frequently employed expert and legitimate power, use of coercive power was the stongest predictor of both outcome measures, and was negatively correlated with both dependent variables. A factor analysis of clients' ratings of the frequency of their lawyer's use of the five bases of power was conducted to determine the dimensions underlying the interactional styles of attorneys. Three interpretable factors emerged: a task orientation, a socio-emotional distancing orientation, and a positive orientation toward the client. Client orientation was positively correlated with ratings of competence and satisfaction, and distancing orientation was negatively correlated with both measures.