hey everyone and welcome to topthink today we're going to learn about the five types of
psychological power now let's begin what gives you power over someone else why can one person
make a demand and a bunch of other people will listen without question what divides the powerful
from the powerless and where does their power come from power governs how you think act and
make decisions in almost any social setting no matter where you go you're constantly searching
for ways to relate yourself to the people in your environment now imagine yourself at the grocery
store most people wouldn't think of this as a very power heavy place but it is as a customer
you weigh your power against that of a cashier or a manager that comparison tells you what you
can and can't do you can for example ask for service or request something from an employee
and you do have enough power to expect that they'll help you out now on the other hand you
don't have the power to decide if an item is on sale or restock an empty shelf in this way every
environment creates a unique hierarchy of power now of course that doesn't mean every instance of
power is inherently different in the late 1950s to leading social psychologists john french and
bertram raven published a transformative study on psychological power they discovered that
there are essentially five bases of power every power dynamic whether you're in class at work or
just at the grocery store stems from one of these fundamental categories but before we discuss each
kind of psychological power let's cover one last question why is learning about power so important
on the surface psychological power seems like an excuse to manipulate the people around you and if
used for the wrong reasons it certainly can be but understanding power serves a much more important
purpose it allows you to reflect on why you listen certain people over others to gain a better grasp
on where you stand in the dozens of social spheres that you interact with on a daily basis to become
a more capable leader and to motivate all the people who depend on you for guidance so whether
you like it or not power will play a significant role in your life it will impact your career your
relationships and your future success the sooner you recognize the power dynamics in your life the
better prepared you'll be to manage and overcome them all right now let's dive in to the five types
of psychological power number one reward power when someone has something you want they have
some degree of power over you think about perks like raises parking spots and opportunities for
advancement if used correctly rewards can be an incredible motivator people are far more willing
to invest work into something when they feel like they're getting a fair reward for example
some employers use reward power by paying a fixed price salary let's say your job is to build model
cars normally you're paid about $20 an hour when you work at an average pace you usually build five
cars every hour but if you worked harder you could actually finish ten cars instead of five knowing
this your employer might use their reward power to try to increase your productivity so instead
of an hourly wage they might offer you $4 per car you could continue making five cars and earn the
same amount of money as you did before or you could pick up the pace and gain twice as much
now in some cases reward based power flows back and forth let's say you want to purchase a TV
from someone the owner of the TV has the power to ask for a certain amount of money now of course
you the seller can then exert a bit of power back onto the owner why because you now have something
they want you have money that gives you the right to negotiate until you land on a price that you're
happy with it's really important to remember that reward power has to benefit both sides in some way
you can't charge a million dollars for your TV and expect people to pay it just like you can't
ask people to work harder without offering them a greater reward competition generally throws
a wrench in these gears but that's a topic for another video good leaders should use reward power
to inspire and motivate their followers not to undercut and ostracize the key is to balance the
group's external rewards with your internal gains that way people will trust you and keep coming
back for more number two coercive power coercive power works almost exactly like reward power you
just turn rewards into punishments someone has coercive power when they're capable of punishing
you or affecting your life in a negative way let's say your boss begins laying people off at work you
notice that he only fired people who didn't follow orders since you're scared of losing your job too
you do exactly as he says you assume that you're going to be punished if you disagree with him in
other words the punishment is effectively changing your behavior you accepted your bosses demands in
order to avoid a harmful outcome coercive power should be used sparingly if at all it's rarely
a good decision to intentionally use fear to gain power over others it's ethically questionable and
it breeds contempt in the workplace if used recklessly rewards and punishments can make
people feel manipulated and taken advantage of so make sure you never use your power to justify
an act of bullying number 3 expert power even if someone can't reward or punish you they can still
have significant power over you it's important to remember that power dynamics aren't always an
exchange of resources expert power is a great example it depends solely on your perception
of another person's expertise if you're a young entrepreneur you would attribute more power to
a successful businessman right that businessman has much more experience so his advice would be
more valuable than yours his expertise grants him power over someone who has less knowledge
expert power doesn't usually result in concrete changes instead it affects thoughts and abstract
ideas an amateur artist might base their style off of an expert that they admire that expert has no
direct control over the artists behavior however their influence changed the way the artist was
thinking now of course a new mindset can affect every nook and cranny of your life so don't make
the mistake of thinking expert power doesn't do anything number four legitimate power legitimate
power is probably the most complicated of the five foundational powers it's the reason why a
CEO can boss around his subordinates it's why the president is considered a more powerful person
than a single senator or governor when someone has legitimate power the powerless believe the
powerful has a formal right to give orders the powerful person usually has some sort of technical
positional or legal right to do so so naturally they expect less powerful people to listen and
obey legitimate power comes from a simple thought process in life there are things you should do
and things you shouldn't do French and Raven call this contrast the feeling of honest these
shoulds and shouldn'ts can derive from just about anywhere from your parents from your school from
your friends they're often products of hidden interactions between all kinds of people and
experiences sometimes you have no idea where your aunt Nanae legitimate power relies on honest to
exist imagine for example that your boss gives you some notes on a project that you're working
on but you disagree you like the project the way it is so should you listen to your boss or should
you ignore her suggestions let's say you decide to make changes to your project even though you
didn't like them why would you do that on the surface your boss makes more money and has more
responsibility she has a title with a higher ranking than you do so doesn't that make her
more powerful legitimate power runs much deeper than that your unique set of internalized values
legitimizes her Authority it tells you that you should prioritize your boss over yourself you feel
like she has the right to overshadow you because of how you learn to treat authority figures so
what if you decide not to make those changes what if you intentionally ignore her notes and keep the
project the way you like it chances are you learn to interact with Authority in a different way
ignoring legitimate power can be a big risk but legitimate power only works if both sides of that
particular power dynamic agreed to it in many ways our society relies on these unspoken agreements to
stay organized and efficient so the next time you think I should listen to them or I ought to
do what he says take a moment to reflect on why number five referent power when someone desires
something that you have their longing establishes a power dynamic this is best exemplified through
physical features like strength and attractiveness if you're in great shape someone who wishes they
were more athletic may feel envious of you that envy will motivate them to maintain a
relationship with you which gives you a fair amount of referent power over them in their
mind a tighter relationship brings them closer to possessing the thing that they admire most about
you that power gets stronger and stronger the more the other person desires what you have now if
someone wants to follow in your footsteps you can imagine how large of an impact your actions can
have on their life but referent power isn't always person-to-person in fact it can exist between an
individual and a group people will try to join groups that they like or respect and if they don't
fit in they'll force themselves to change many people have sacrificed their habits and values to
be accepted by a group that they admire so how can you actually use referent power in your own life
be the kind of person that people like the more respected you are the more influence you'll have
then if you do gain some degree of referent power pay special attention to the kind of message that
you're spreading you never know whose world your actions might change hey thank you for
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