Si merezco tener poder, ¿qué más puedo esperar?: poder, legitimidad y optimismo

• Autores: Guillermo Byrd Willis Sánchez, Rosa María Rodríguez Bailón
• Localización: International Journal of Social Psychology, Revista de Psicología Social, ISSN-e 1579-3680, ISSN 0213-4748, Vol. 26, Nº 2, 2011, págs. 241-255
• Idioma: español
• DOI: 10.1174/021347411795449018
• Títulos paralelos:
  • What do power-holders expect?: power, legitimary and optimism
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Dialnet Métricas: 3 Citas
• Resumen
  • español

    Estudios recientes han mostrado que el estar en una posición de poder (vs. estar en una situación de bajo poder) tiene diversas consecuencias cognitivas. Una de ellas es que los poderosos desarrollan ciertos sesgos cognitivos que los hacen percibir las situaciones desde una perspectiva más optimista. Partiendo de esta idea, el presente trabajo tiene tres objetivos: a) Replicar estos resultados en una muestra española; b) Explorar el papel moderador de una variable psicosocial como la legitimidad sobre estos resultados; y c) Analizar el papel de la controlabilidad como mecanismo explicativo de la relación predicha entre poder y optimismo. Con objeto de probar los efectos del poder y su legitimidad sobre el optimismo se realizó un experimento en el que ambas variables se manipularon. Los resultados muestran que el estar en una situación de poder hace que las personas tiendan a ser más optimistas; sin embargo, esto sólo sucede si el poder se obtiene de manera legítima. Además, y de manera interesante, la controlabilidad de los eventos negativos que los participantes esperaban vivir en el futuro medió la relación entre poder y optimismo mostrada por los poderosos (vs. los no poderosos) en la condición legítima.

  • English

    Recent studies have shown that power (vs. powerlessness) affects different cognitive processes. For instance, powerful people tend to perceive situations in a more optimistic fashion. Following this idea, this study has three main goals: a) to replicate theses results in a Spanish sample; b) to explore the moderating role of a psychosocial variable such as legitimacy on these results; and c) to analyse the role of controllability as an explanatory mechanism of the predicted relationship between power and optimism. To test the effects of power and its legitimacy on optimism, an experiment in which both variables were manipulated was carried out. The results indicated that people in a position of power tend to be more optimistic than powerless people. However, this is only the case when power relationships are perceived as legitimate. Interestingly, the controllability of future negative events expected by participants mediated the relationship between power and optimism shown by the powerful (vs. powerless) in the legitimate condition.

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