Power and communication: Message interpretation and message construction

Power affects the behavior of people in the workplace. Communication is a prime example of a behavior that can be affected by the level of power that a person holds in an organization. Statements can have both semantic and pragmatic implications. A statement's semantic implication is its literal meaning, whereas its pragmatic implication includes the antecedent conditions that led the communicator to make the statement. This research examines how differential levels of power impact message interpretation. I hypothesize that high-power individuals are more likely to interpret a message semantically, and low-power individuals are more likely to interpret a message pragmatically. Support for these hypotheses is found in study one.; This research also examines how power level affects an individual's choice to send a message with semantic or pragmatic implications. The findings in study two, show that low-power individuals are more likely to use pragmatic messages and high-power individuals are more likely to use semantic messages. Organizational implications for the findings are discussed.; In study three, additional evidence is gleaned to support the hypothesis that high-power individuals are more likely to interpret a message semantically, and low-power individuals are more likely to interpret a message pragmatically. Individuals receive memos that were written in study two. Thus each individual is yoked to a memo written by someone with the appropriate level of power. Again, the affect of relative power on message interpretation is examined by analyzing the individuals' responses to the memo.