Coercive Strategies in Power-Dependence Relations

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This award provides support for an experimental study of the effects of two bases of power derived from the capacity to reward or to punish others. Earlier research found that the effects of punishment power were consistently weaker than those of reward power. A structural imbalance in the power to reward others consistently affect behavior by producing asymmetric exchanges between actors. A structural imbalance in the power to punish others does not necessarily affect the behavior and actions of individuals. Reward power requires only that actors pursue their own self interest, but punishment power requires actors to monitor and respond contingently to others' actions. This work will continue a series of experiments designed to test a theory to explain why reward-and punishment based power have such different effects. The new experiments are testing hypotheses derived from an analysis of how actors' assessments of the risk of power use and the fairness of power use affect the strategic use of reward and punishment-based resources. This research program will make a significant contribution to the study of social behavior and the effects of structural inequalities in the access to resources and the capacity to reward or punish others on individual behavior and social exchange.