| Across three studies, I show that power affects the valuation of outcomes, and that this has implications for both motivation and decision making. Specifically, Studies 1 and 2 demonstrate that while power diminishes the negative value associated with losses, it does not affect the value associated with gains. Further, Study 2 shows that power's effect on motivation drives the value associated with positive and negative outcomes. Taken together, these findings imply that power moderates the pattern of loss aversion typically seen in decision makers without power. In Study 3, I replicate a seminal loss aversion study and show that those in power are less loss averse than participants in both low power and baseline conditions. Implications for power's affects on the Behavioral Approach and Behavioral Inhibition Systems (Carver & White, 1994; Gray, 1991) are discussed. |
