Article summary with When the boss feels inadequate: Power, competence and aggression by Fast and Chen - 2009

The main question that this article is trying to answer is: when are power holders most likely to behave aggressively, and why do they do so?

Power and self-perceived incompetence

Power is defined as a disproportionate control over others’ outcomes as a result of the capacity to allocate rewards and punishments. Self-perceived incompetence is defined as the perception of one’s personal ability to be influential. Power increases the degree to which individuals feel that they need to be competent. If power holders perceive themselves as incompetent, they might display aggression as a result of ego defensiveness.

Study 1

Self-report scales for power, incompetence and aggression are used to test the hypothesis. Result: incompetence was only associated with aggression among high-power people. And power was only associated with aggression among highly incompetent people. However, this is just correlation. In the next study, power and competence were manipulated. 

Study 2

Power and competence (2 x 2 design) were manipulated with writing tasks: participants had to write a short story about a situation in which they were high or low in power, and high or low in competence. Aggression was measured with willingness to administrate loud noises to future participants (they had to select a volume). Results: incompetent, high power people showed more aggression than competent, high power people and incompetent, low power people. In the low power condition, there were no effects of competence.

Study 3

In this study, all participants were in the high power condition (again manipulated with a writing task). Participants were asked to rate their own competence and were then given positive or negative feedback. This was done to test whether or not aggression is the result of ego defensiveness; if a participant was given positive feedback, then his/her self-worth should get a boost, hereby reducing the need to defend the ego. Finally, aggression was measured as the willingness to harm a subordinate through the means of sabotage. Results: pairing power with incompetence was linked to more aggression. However, giving participants an ego-boost related to their leadership aptitude eliminated this effect. Thus: the hypothesized link to ego defensiveness seems feasible.

Study 4

In the final study, work-related power was measured, and competence was manipulated with a writing task. Next, half of the participants were given a generic self-affirmation, and the other half was given no affirmation. Finally, aggression was measured with a questionnaire. Results: again, self-perceived incompetence increases aggression among high-power participants. But this effect is eliminated when self-affirmation was possible. Thus, again: the hypothesized link to ego defensiveness seems feasible. Practically speaking, this means that if you want to reduce aggression in the workplace, then providing self-affirmation to reduce ego defensiveness might be a solution. So, after all, sucking up to the boss might actually work!