Entrusted power enhances psychological other-orientation and altruistic behavioural tendencies

From the playground to the boardroom, social power shapes the way people think and behave. Social psychological research has provided a nuanced understanding of the different psychological and behavioural tendencies of powerholders. We add to this literature, suggesting that powerholders can differ in their construal of where their power originates from. Specifically, we differentiate construing the origin of one’s power as being based on personal merit and achievement (i.e., achieved power construal) from construing the origin of one’s power as being granted by others (i.e., entrusted power construal). We predicted that entrusted more than achieved power construal would increase powerholders’ psychological other-orientation - the tendency to put oneself into another’s shoes and to feel what they feel - and their altruistic behavioural tendencies. Using a multi-method approach, we tested these predictions across three studies (N = 926). We found that powerholders who adopted an entrusted compared to achieved power construal increased their psychological other-orientation and their altruistic behavioural tendencies. We discuss how our findings can be applied to the training of future powerholders and educate them about the reciprocal nature of power.