The Dark Side of Possessing Power: Power Reduces Happiness in a Collectivist Context

Abstract

Most recent conceptualizations emphasized the role of power in facilitating positive psychological outcomes (subjective well being) as it reduces sensitivity to social cues and increases authenticity among people in the Western contexts who would likely manifest an independent self-construal. Though, the self-construal theory posits that individuals in collectivist cultures would more likely endorse a view of self that prioritize sensitivity to contextual information through an interdependent self-construal. This implies that power may have a different impact on subjective well being in interdependent societies since authenticity was found to be a less important predictor of happiness in collectivist cultures. The aim of the study is to determine the predictive influence of power on SWB as mediated by authenticity. Results showed that power positively predicted authenticity. However, power negatively predicted SWB and authenticity mediated the link between power and SWB. Implications of the findings are discussed.