THE INFLUENCE OF POWER, POWER STABILITY, AND GENDER ON RISK-TAKING AND ALTRUISM

Abstract

Power hierarchies are a pervasive feature of societies and existing research has established many ways that power can affect human behaviour, such as risk-taking and altruism. Hierarchies are often unstable and recently research has begun to explore the ways in which the stability or instability of an individual’s position of power may also influence behaviour. To date, the literature lacks consensus on how power stability influences risk-taking and prosocial behaviours and offers only a limited view of potential gender differences. Based on the approach/inhibition theory of power, this study seeks to examine the effect of power, power stability and gender on risk-taking and altruism. Power and stability were manipulated via a mind-set priming method in a sample from an East Asian university and measures of risk-taking and altruistic behaviour were assessed. Contrary to hypotheses, results revealed non-significant effects of power, power stability and gender. Consistent with prior work, a significant effect of gender on risk-taking was found, with males reporting greater risk-taking tendencies, particularly in the finance and health domains. Overall, the findings appear to support the approach/inhibition theory and directions for future research are discussed.