Leiden University Student Repository

Heinis, Bahar (2022)

Having power is one thing… how to perceive it is an entire other. About the influence of gender, power level and conformity on power construal.

Master thesis | Psychology (MSc)

Men and women may cognitively construe power differently, i.e., either as an opportunity or a responsibility. In the current research, we explore the influence of gender identity and conformity on power construal. To study these hypotheses, 402 participants were primed with having low power or high power using a recall task; subsequently the different meanings of power (responsibility and opportunity) were measured. Results indicate that the high power condition significantly increased the perception of both opportunities and responsibilities. Sex and conformity did not influence power construal while a more feminine gender identity was significantly related to the perception of responsibilities. Future studies could possibly look into how the findings of the current study fit in with the previously recorded findings, since there seems to be some discrepancy between the findings.

Power construal

responsibility

opportunity

sex

gender

conformity

Author

Heinis, Bahar

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Specialisation

Social & Organizational Psychology

Supervisors

Schippers, D.

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en