Serial Experimental Studies On The Effects Of The Sense Of Power On Risk Preferences In The Gain And Loss Situations

Most researches used the Approach/Inhibition theory to explain the effect of power on risk decision making.This theory focus on the influence of the sense of power,rather than the level of power motivation or the stability of the power hierarchy on their approach/inhibition behavior,and most studies prone to investigate the approach behavior in a gain situation,rarely investigate the inhibition behavior in a loss situation.Specifically,it is still unclear how the sense of power would affect and change individuals’ approach/inhibition behavior.The present study attempt to investigate from the perspective of risk preference,we recruited different positions of leaders in their actual work as the participants,all participants then completed some decision-making tasks which including a gain or loss situation.We sought to examine:(1)how the sense of power affects their risk preference;(2)whether this effect is moderated by the level of power motivation and the stability of their power hierarchy;(3)why the sense of power affects their risk preference.To assess this,we designed three studies of seven experiments.Study 1 used three experiments to examine how the sense of power affects their risk preference in the gain and loss situations.These experiments used different methods to define the sense of power.In experiment 1,the sense of power is defined by participants’ actual position of their work;in experiment 2,the sense of power is measured by participants’ trait power;and in experiment 3,the sense of power is manipulated by role assignment and organization chart.The results showed that the main effects of the sense of power and gain/loss situations were significant in all three experiments.In the gain/loss situations,the sense of power increases individuals’ risk preference,individuals with a greater sense of power have a higher risk tendency than those with a lower sense of power.Moreover,the interaction effects between the sense of power and gain/loss situations was significant in three experiments.The difference of risk preference between powerful and powerless is significant in gain situation,but the difference is not significant in loss situation.It reflects the asymmetric phenomenon of gain and loss: compared with the loss situation,it is easier for individuals to increase their risk preference by enhancing their sense of power in gain situation.Study 2 used two experiments to examine the moderators of the sense of power and the risk preference in decision-making.Experiment 4 used the Achievement Motivation Scale to measure the level of participants’ power motivation,and then investigated whether power motivation as a moderator of the relationship between the sense of power and risk preference in a decision-making task.Experiment 5 used feedback to manipulate the stability of power,and then investigated whether the stability of power as a moderator of the relationship between the sense of power and risk preference.The results showed that both power motivation and the stability of power significantly moderate the relationship between the sense of power and risk preference,regardless of gain or loss situation.The results of Experiment 4 showed that the main effects of the sense of power and gain/loss situations and power motive were significant.The interaction effects between the sense of power and power motive were significant.Experiment 4 found that power motivation decreases the effect of the sense of power on risk preference for the high-power condition;whereas power motivation increases the effect of the sense of power on risk preference for the low-power condition.The results of Experiment 5 showed that the main effects of the gain/loss situations were significant,and the main effects of the sense of power and power stability were not significant.The interaction effects between the sense of power and power stability were significant.Experiment 5 found that the stability of power increases the effect of the sense of power on risk preference for the high-power condition;whereas power motivation decreases the effect of the sense of power on risk preference for the low-power condition.Study 3 sought to examine why the sense of power affects their risk preference.We know that the risk is the sum of all kinds of losses,and that the individual’s risk preference for decision-making is largely dependent on their response and attitude to the loss.People dislike the losses when they facing gains and losses.But the loss aversion is different among people,thus leading to differences in risk preferences.According to this view,this study focuses on whether the sense of power affects risk preference by changing the individuals’ loss aversion.Experiment 6 investigated the relationship between the sense of power and loss aversion as a pre-test,which lay the foundation for the analysis of mediation in experiment 7.Experiment 7 examined whether the loss aversion as a mediation of the sense of power and risk preference.The results showed that the sense of power reduce loss aversion and leads to more risky behavior.Loss aversion plays as a partial mediation between the sense of power and risk preference both in the gain and loss situations.In sum,the results demonstrated that high power individuals have a higher risk tendency than low power individuals,while power motivation and the stability of power moderate the relationship between the sense of power and risk preference.It is might the influence of the internal and external environment changed individuals’ loss aversion,which in turn changed their risk preference.These results not only enrich the research contents in the field of power psychology,but also have some enlightenment and significance to the practical problems such as how do leaders make good decisions.