While a “team of rivals” approach to White House advisers may indeed
be what the country needs, scientists who study the decision-making of
people in power know that surrounding yourself with competing voices is
no guarantee that wise actions will follow. W.’s team of rivals—Dick
Cheney, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld—was merely dysfunctional, pushing
“separate, often conflicting agendas,” as my colleagues point out in this week’s magazine. One reason, scientists say, is that power
can insulate a leader from being influenced, for it creates a
psychological environment that makes them more likely to rely on
their own beliefs, values and goals.
The latest evidence for this comes in a series of experiments
measuring the effects of power and, specifically, whether it shields
people from influence. Although this was a somewhat artificial—that is,
lab-based—situation, it rings true. The scientists, led by Adam
Galinsky of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, tested
the effects of peer pressure and conformity, they report in the
December issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
One experiment had volunteers complete an exercise that most of them
disliked. But when shown a feedback form indicating (falsely) that
other participants had enjoyed the task, volunteers put in a position
of low-power changed their minds, deciding that it wasn’t so bad after
all. In contrast, volunteers in a position of high power expressed
their honest dislike of the task, unswayed by the favorable opinions of
others. The views of the powerful, one scientist said, “do not change
with the wind.” Of course, if “wind” includes things like evidence that
the reason you invaded a country was fallacious, then you have stubborn
leaders who refuse to admit their mistakes.
Powerful people, said Galinsky, are “more likely to express
attitudes that don’t necessarily conform to prevailing peer pressure,
and be more willing to counter with opposing views or statements in a
discussion or argument.” Expect lots of armchair psychologizing in the
coming years about why the current occupant of the White House
apparently bent so willingly to the views of those around him,
especially Cheney, as detailed in Barton Gellman’s magisterial “Angler.”
As for the next president, the findings suggest that Obama’s
resounding victory, and the Democrats’ control of Congress, might
enable him to stick to his vision. “Although power is often thought of
as a pernicious force that corrupts people who possess it, it is the
protection from situational influence that helps powerful individuals
surmount social obstacles and express the seemingly unpopular ideas of
today that transform into the ideals of tomorrow,” Galinsky said.
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