Power and Status

The complex relationship between power and status requires clarification. Why does power seem to confer more status in some situations than in others? Theoretical ideas used to answer this question come from three major areas of social psychology: exchange theories ofpower, the status characteristics and expectation states theoretical research program, and attribution research. Results of an experiment provided partial supportfor the main hypothesis derivedfrom the theory: Differences in status will result consistent with power differences between actors. Power differences produced differences in expectations of ability on selfreport measures but not on a behavioral measure of interpersonal influence. Although knowledge about the power structure was predicted to reduce the status derivedfrom power, no effect of knowledge wasfound. During the experiment, participants'emotional reactions were observed to play a role in the relationship between power and status.