Power and motivated impression formation.

TL;DRAbstract

Four studies explore the relationship between power-control over others' outcomes-and impression formation.Participants in each study occupied different power roles: the powerful (mangers) controlled others' outcomes, the powerless (employees) were contingent on the powerful for outcomes, and the power-irrlevant (alternate participants) neither controlled the powerless nor were contingent on the powerful.Dependent measures included attention to target trait information and impression ratings.Power-irrelevant targets served as the experimental control condition.Participants were predicted to ignore both stereotype-consistent and stereotype- inconsistent information about these targets, forming moderately stereotypic but relatively less confident impressions.Powerful participants were predicted to stereotype subordinates by default (ignoring stereotype-inconsistent information) and by design (effortfully attending to stereotype-consistent information).As a result, powerholders' impressio

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