Power and Perception in Networks

高权力或低权力的人对他们网络中的谁与谁联系有更准确的感知吗？感知准确性如何影响网络和组织中的电力使用？社会学和相关学科之前的工作导致了对社会结构如何影响对谁与谁有联系的看法的准确性的不同解释。这项研究旨在解释先前不同的发现，并洞察权力和知觉之间的关系。我们首先对一类广为人知的网络提出了一种关于权力和感知的新理论：在这些网络中，参与者之间的联系代表着有利可图的交换机会。新理论和拟议研究的一个重要特点是，他们既解决了因果方向，也就是权力如何影响知觉，以及知觉准确性如何反过来影响权力使用。第一组研究测试了我们的“依赖-感知”理论，该理论解释了为什么低权力参与者比高权力参与者拥有更准确的网络感知。第二组研究测试了依赖-感知理论的扩展，该理论解决了返回路径：感知准确性如何缓和电力潜力对电力使用的影响。该理论表明，在特定条件下，知觉准确性有利于低权力职位的占有者，但不利于高权力职位的占有者。更广泛的影响：有许多实际原因可以增加我们对网络中权力和感知之间的联系的理解。网络在社会生活中无处不在，从正式的组织到家庭成员和朋友圈成员之间的联系。由于对资源的访问--无论是金钱、友谊、信息还是其他有价值的商品--岌岌可危，网络感知的准确性可能会影响所有现有公司的体验。例如，如果权力对网络感知产生负面影响，正如我们的理论所表明的那样，我们应该期待低权力参与者通过单独或共同行动来提高他们的权力，从而利用这种关系。然而，如果一个相互竞争的论点是正确的，而权力对感知的准确性有积极的影响，我们可能会期待那些拥有更高权力的人利用他们更准确的感知来保持或加强自己的优势。因此，拟议的研究应该不仅仅是澄清理论难题：它为理解现实世界不平等的持久性和转化提供了进一步的希望。这项研究的结果将通过学术期刊和酌情通过其他媒体传播。这样的出版物应该有助于增加对社会学基本理论的实验测试的理解和欣赏，并说明抽象理论在广泛的现实世界案例中的潜在适用性。

ABSTRACTDo high-power or low-power persons have more accurate perceptions of who is tied to whom in their networks? And how does perceptual accuracy affect power use in networks and organizations? Previous work in sociology and related disciplines has led to divergent explanations of how social structures affect the accuracy of perceptions of who has ties with whom. This research aims to account for prior divergent findings, and to yield insight into the relationship between power and perception. We begin with a new theory of power and perception for a well-understood class of networks: those in which ties between actors represent opportunities for profitable exchange. An important feature of the new theory and the proposed research is that they address both causal directions, i.e., how power affects perception and how perceptual accuracy, in turn, affects power use. The first set of studies tests our "Dependence - Perception" theory that explains why low-power actors have more accurate network perceptions than high-power actors. The second set of studies tests an extension of the Dependence - Perception theory, which addresses the return path: how perceptual accuracy moderates the effects of power potential on power use. The theory suggests that, under specified conditions, perceptual accuracy is beneficial to occupants of low-power positions, but not to occupants of high-power positions. Broader Impacts:There are a number of practical reasons to increase our understanding of the links between power and perception in networks. Networks are ubiquitous in social life, from formal organizations to affiliation ties among members of families and friendship circles. With access to resources at stake--whether money, friendship, information, or other valued goods--the accuracy of network perceptions can affect the experiences of all incumbents. For example, if power negatively impacts network perception, as our theory suggests, we should expect low-power actors to capitalize on this relationship by acting individually or collectively to improve their power. However, if a competing argument is correct and power positively impacts perceptual accuracy, we might expect those high in power to exploit their more accurate perceptions to maintain or strengthen their advantage. Thus, the proposed research should go beyond the mere clarification of theoretical puzzles: It holds further promise for understanding the persistence and transformation of real-world inequalities. The results of this research will be disseminated through academic journals and, where appropriate, other media. Such publications should help to increase understanding and appreciation for experimentally testing basic theories in sociology, and for illustrating the potential applicability of abstract theory to a wide range of real-world cases.