WHEN PEOPLE FEEL POWERFUL, THEY IGNORE NEW OPINIONS, STUDY FINDS

[Ichingcarpenter]

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Don’t bother trying to persuade your boss of a new idea while he’s feeling the power of his position – new research suggests he’s not listening to you.

“Powerful people have confidence in what they are thinking. Whether their thoughts are positive or negative toward an idea, that position is going to be hard to change,” said Richard Petty, co-author of the study and professor of psychology at Ohio State University.
Richard Petty

The best way to get leaders to consider new ideas is to put them in a situation where they don’t feel as powerful, the research suggests.

“If you temporarily make a powerful person feel less powerful, you have a better chance of getting them to pay attention,” said Pablo Briñol, lead author of the study and a social psychologist at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in Spain. Briñol is a former postdoctoral fellow at Ohio State.

“The strength of the argument made no difference to those who played the boss – they obviously weren’t paying attention when they felt powerful. Those who played the employee, who were made to feel powerless, paid a lot more attention to the arguments. They weren’t as confident in their own initial beliefs and weighed the arguments more carefully.”

http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/powerinf%20connect.htm

[fascisthunter]

1. sounds like the Dem Leadership

[Ordr]

4. Whoa, we found something that you and I agree with.

:)

[fascisthunter]

9. Hopefully You Feel the Same about the GOP as a Whole

at least we have some good people on this side of the aisle still worth supporting. The other side? They are dead to me...

[Ordr]

10. The GOP went to hell after Goldwater, as far as I'm concerned.

[Ichingcarpenter]

6. I think you can find it with the Repuglicans also

Paradigm shifts are difficult for the established structure. In 1962, Thomas Kuhn wrote The Structure of Scientific Revolution, and fathered, defined and popularized the concept of "paradigm shift" . Kuhn argues that scientific advancement is not evolutionary, but rather is a "series of peaceful interludes punctuated by intellectually violent revolutions", and in those revolutions "one conceptual world view is replaced by another".

Think of a Paradigm Shift as a change from one way of thinking to another. It's a revolution, a transformation, a sort of metamorphosis. It just does not happen, but rather it is driven by agents of change.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradigm_shift

I thought that the study done by Petty in this article hardly touched the Paradigm synthesis of change.

[fascisthunter]

8. Oh.... It Definitely is on the GOP Side

don't get me wrong, it's just that I have been beating the drum to get the Dem leadership to hold Bush accountable and they just won't. Hell, they look down on us for even trying....

As if we were in the wrong...

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. I've also heard that stupid people always assumed they are right

while smarter people question their actions more, and rate their intelligence lower than it is.

Do you suppose gaining a little power makes you more stupid?

[iamthebandfanman]

3. ego is a helleva drug

so is power ;)

[undeterred]

5. this happens with candidates running for office

I'm not referring to high office necessarily. When people are running for office and getting applause for their speeches, it starts to go to their head. When you offer them a little constructive criticism, they ignore it because they've heard the applause. It takes two or three or four people and a setback to get them to listen to constructive advice. Its very frustrating when you are trying to help a candidate who won't listen to you.

[kirby]

7. A case for Term limits!

What more effective way to keep a political on his toes than to know he wont be their forever?

[backscatter712]

13. Not just term limits,

but real, relatively easy recall elections, impeachment rules that can be invoked upon the drop of a hat, very, very short election terms (maybe one year, or even six month terms.)

We want these guys to believe they're one foot out the door at all times.

[Ichingcarpenter]

14. Please include a Call for No-Confidence in your suggestion

all the Congress has is the power of censor, which is worthless.

[backscatter712]

16. Call for no-confidence is good!

[backscatter712]

17. While we're talking about no-confidence,

let's combine it with the concept of a recall vote, and have we, the people, upon presentation of a sufficient number of signatures on a petition, hold a special election of no confidence, if a majority vote in favor of holding the government in no confidence, EVERYBODY IN CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENCY AND THE SCOTUS ARE FIRED!!! New elections are held immediately to replace the bastards.

One foot out the door at all times.

[Breeze54]

11. Sounds like GD - P!

:P

[Ichingcarpenter]

12. GDP, Religious bigots, Global Warming deniers..etc.

Actually, Aldous Huxley touched upon this theme in his exploration of a Utopian society in his last book, "Island"

[Truth2Tell]

15. Temporarily make a powerful person feel less powerful!

Or permanently, for that matter. :)