Adolescent psychopathic traits and adverse environments: Associations with socially adaptive outcomes.

Researchers have suggested that psychopathic traits among adults may be, at least in part, an adaptive and/or a learned response for securing socially adaptive outcomes in adverse environments, but there is a lack of developmental evidence supporting this hypothesis among adolescents. Therefore, we examined the indirect links from self-perceived adverse environments (parental neglect, socioeconomic status, school competition, neighborhood violence) to evolutionarily relevant social outcomes (social power, dating behavior) through psychopathic traits. A community sample of 396 adolescents completed measures for the study (Mage = 14.64, SD = 1.52). As predicted, there were significant indirect effects from higher levels of parental neglect, school competition, and neighborhood violence to both forms of socially adaptive outcomes through psychopathic traits, but unexpectedly, there were no indirect effects with socioeconomic status. There were also direct effects between environment and socially adaptive outcomes. Results support the hypothesis that psychopathic traits may be, in part, an adaptive and/or learned response to cues from adverse social environments as a means to acquire evolutionarily relevant social outcomes. Interventions could be designed to target the adverse social issues that might be facilitating the development of psychopathy and should be sensitive to the social outcomes adolescents may acquire from these traits.

Social power may be associated with health through positive emotion.

Increased social power-defined as one's influence on another's behavior-guides activation of one's behavioral activation system which, in turn, elicits greater positive emotion. Positive emotion has also been linked to greater health. The current research assessed whether power and positive emotion are related to health. In Study 1, participants (N = 403; Mage = 48.33 years) wrote a narrative about a time in which they felt powerful or powerless. Greater self-reported feelings of power, concurrent with more frequent use of positive emotional words within the narrative, was associated with fewer references to health within the narrative. In Study 2, participants (N = 401; Mage = 33.05 years) primed with the concept of power (vs. powerlessness) reported greater health competency through enhanced positive emotion. Findings provided preliminary data supporting the continued study of power to better understand the link between positive emotion and health. Future research should elucidate the long-term relationships between these variables to examine whether increased power can produce downstream positive effects on health and health behavior.

Social Power and the Movement System: Why and How Physical Therapists Might Influence the Upstream Currents of Health.

Social determinants of health are an emerging focus within physical therapist practice, research, education, and advocacy as a necessary condition for movement system health disparities. Fundamental cause theory suggests that the sociopolitical environment sets the context for individuals' socioeconomic positioning, which determines the availability of resources that are necessary for groups and individuals to maintain health. These resources include knowledge, money, power, prestige, and social connections. Yet, it is the hierarchical organization of society that dictates both the availability of socioeconomic resources and the ability of patients and clients to use those resources to promote and maintain movement system health. The presence of social hierarchies indicates the need for physical therapists to consider social power as a key determinant of movement system health. Consideration of social power in clinical initiatives and advocacy agendas would provide a framework for physical therapists to begin the dynamic, and often, adversarial process of breaking down social hierarchies and redistributing social power, rather than simply redistributing socioeconomic resources, in pursuit of societal transformation and community-building. This Perspective discusses social power as the fundamental driver of movement system health inequalities and explores the effects of social power on exposure, susceptibility, experience, and recovery related to movement system pathology-including the influence of social power on the ability of people to acquire socioeconomic resources and convert them to health-relevant resources. This perspective concludes with recommendations for physical therapists to identify and dismantle inequalities in social power through structural competency.

The Gap Between Us: Income Inequality Reduces Social Affiliation in Dyadic Interactions.

In this investigation, we tested the hypothesis that increased income inequality between individuals will reduce social affiliation within dyadic interactions. In three experiments, we examined the effects of income inequality on key indices of affiliation using semi-structured interactions. In the first two experiments, a participant and confederate were randomly assigned to a low- or high-power role and compensated mildly or extremely unequally. In Experiment 3, inequality and inequity were orthogonally manipulated to determine whether inequality's social consequences are moderated by the fairness of the income distribution. We demonstrated that greater inequality produced more negative emotional responses, reduced desire for closeness, and harsher evaluations of one's partner, regardless of one's power role and the equitability of the income distribution. We also obtained evidence that greater inequality reduces behavioral warmth, although this effect was less consistent. Our results begin to unpack the psychological processes through which income inequality worsens societal well-being.

Community nursing delivery in urban China: A social power perspective.

Community nurses remain understudied in research on interactional power, especially in China where community healthcare is an emerging practice. Grounded in French & Raven's typology of social power, this article conceptualises the power of community nurses in a Chinese urban context. Through thematic analysis of textual data from 26 semi-structured interviews and two additional focus group discussions with community nurses in Shenzhen, we identified six power varieties, i.e. indirect reward, indirect coercion, legitimate position, peer reference, field expertise, and caring information. We classified these powers trichotomously, as nurse-to-doctor, nurse-to-nurse, and nurse-to-patient, to show the potential influences nurses bring to healthcare relationships. Our analysis indicated nurses' exercise of some powers was constrained by two elements, i.e. doctor-nurse power polarity and patient prejudices against nursing, which together contributed to nurses' adverse power loss. These power adversities permeated the community health environment, contributing to healthcare delivery dysfunctions by undermining nurses' self-improvement, self-assurance, enthusiasm, and cooperation in care. Our analysis, using the insights of social power, develops a novel reading of community nursing delivery in urban China. We argue that nurse empowerment could promote community healthcare delivery. Role enhancement and pro-nursing policy development would reduce adverse power scenarios for community nurses and help convert their potential power resources into practical powers in support of patients' needs.

The developmental theory of embodiment: Quantitative measurement of facilitative and adverse experiences in the social environment.

The present program of research involved developing and evaluating three fully structured measures of facilitative and adverse social experiences during adulthood described by the developmental theory of embodiment (DTE) as shaping the quality of the experiences of living in the body. The Physical Freedom Scale - adulthood (PFSa) addresses physical experiences, the Mental Freedom Scale - adulthood (MFSa) assesses exposure to social environments that either facilitate or constrict freedom from constraining social discourses, and the Social Power and Relational Connections Scale - adulthood (SPRCSa) covers experiences of accessing, or being barred from, social power and empowering relational connections. The pilot study ( N = 92) involved item revision and deletion. Study 1 (N = 412) involved factor analyses of the three scales, leading to the emergence of six, three, and four factors in the PFSa, MFSa, and SPRCSa, respectively. The study also provided initial support for the internal consistency of the scales and subscales, as well as their convergent validity. Study 2 (N = 373) confirmed the factor structure of the scales from study 2. Study 3 (N = 64) demonstrated that the scales and their factors were stable over a 3-week period. The scales can be used to study integrated sociocultural models of embodiment.

Individual differences in social power: Links with beliefs about emotion and emotion regulation.

OBJECTIVE: People differ in how they regulate their emotions, and how they do so is guided by their beliefs about emotion. We propose that social power-one's perceived influence over others-relates to one's beliefs about emotion and to emotion regulation. More powerful people are characterized as authentic and uninhibited, which should translate to the belief that one should not have to control one's emotions and, in turn, less suppression and more acceptance. More powerful people are also characterized as self-efficacious and confident, which should translate to the belief that one can control one's emotions and, in turn, more reappraisal and acceptance. METHOD: Two preregistered studies using four samples (Ntotal  = 1286) tested these hypotheses using cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys as well as diaries. RESULTS: In Study 1, power related to beliefs about emotion and emotion regulation in hypothesized ways. Study 2 also largely supported the hypotheses: The belief that one should not have to control one's emotions accounted for the links between power and suppression and acceptance, whereas the belief that one can control one's emotions accounted for the link between power and reappraisal. CONCLUSION: Power and emotion regulation are interconnected, in part because of their links with beliefs about emotions.

Expanding the social lens: A quantitative study of the developmental theory of embodiment.

The developmental theory of embodiment (DTE) is a research-based theory of social factors that shape the experience of embodiment, a construct that is strongly correlated with body esteem and body appreciation. The DTE is anchored in prospective and retrospective qualitative research studies with cisgender girls and women of diverse backgrounds. This paper describes the first comprehensive quantitative study of factors in the social environment the DTE delineates as shaping the experience of embodiment involving a cross-sectional design, among 412 cisgender women. The 13 quantitative social factors correlated positively with the Experience of Embodiment Scale and accounted together for over 60% of its score variance. The findings of significant positive correlations between all social factors and of a large shared variance amongst these factors in a simultaneous multiple regression predicting the experience of embodiment are in line with the DTE and with a multi-level model of causality central to public health perspectives, whereby social structures and positions, such as those related to gender, shape multiple lower-level protective and risk factors. Future studies of the theory should include prospective designs with samples of varied backgrounds along different dimensions of social location.

Toward more equal and mutual human-pet relations: Insights and possible solutions based on social psychological theories.

Human-pet relations are imbued with power imbalances, with many pets depending on humans for food and water, shelter, health care, and sheer survival. A majority of people report loving their pets and consider them to be integral family members; however, the care provided to pets varies widely and can be, in some cases, suboptimal. Yet, building more equal relations between humans and their pets could provide benefits to both parties. To achieve this increased equality and mutuality, the current paper proposes theory-based solutions. Specifically, and building on established social psychological theories, namely theories of intergroup relations and of human motivation, the current paper identifies both social and relational factors which, if socially and individually promoted, could trigger more equal and possibly mutually beneficial relationships with pets. We provide concrete examples illustrating how these factors can be maximized and promoted.

Employing a sort of "we" based VBN model to gauge Chinese tourists' intentions to support low-carbon tourism.

Low-carbon tourism behaviors by tourists can directly reduce carbon emissions and resource consumption, providing an effective way to promote the high-quality development of tourism. Therefore, promoting low-carbon tourism behaviors among tourists has become a key concern in academia. Most existing studies have investigated the influence of tourists' cognitive, emotional and normative drivers of low-carbon tourism behavior from the perspective of tourists. However, the nature of tourism activities is social interaction, which can have a significant impact on tourists' low-carbon tourism behavior. Moreover, the study of Chinese tourists' low-carbon tourism behavior requires attention to the core elements of Chinese culture. Thus, there is an urgent need to study the low-carbon tourism behavior of tourists as it is embedded in social interactions and strongly influenced by the local Chinese culture. The sense of mianzi and the sense of group consistency are two key Chinese cultural norms that have self-regulatory (personal norms) and other-regulatory (social norms) effects on Chinese social interaction behaviors. This paper uses VBN (value-belief-norm) theory as the basic framework, incorporates two normative factors that reflect Chinese cultural characteristics, mianzi consciousness and group consistency consciousness, and modifies the general VBN model based on Chinese cultural characteristics to construct an integrated model to explain Chinese tourists' low-carbon tourism behavior. The results show that tourists' traditional values have a significant effect on their low-carbon tourism intention through beliefs and personal norms. In addition, we find that the more sensitive tourists' sense of mianzi (personal norms) is, the more significant the effect of perceived group consistency pressure (social norms) is on their low-carbon tourism behavior. This study integrates Chinese cultural normative factors and classical Western environmental behavior theoretical models to extend the study of the influence of Chinese cultural factors on Chinese tourists' low-carbon tourism behavior.

I am entitled to it! Social power and context modulate disadvantageous inequity aversion.

Previous research consistently indicated that social power influences one's fairness consideration. However, it is unclear how social power and context jointly affect inequity aversion and whether these processes would be manifested in brain activities. In this study, participants were randomly assigned into either high or low power condition and then took part in a modified ultimatum game (UG) as responders in both gain and loss contexts, with their event-related potentials (ERPs) recorded. Behavioral results showed that powerful participants were more likely to reject unfair offers in both contexts compared with powerless ones. In addition, powerful participants showed a more negative feedback-related negativity (FRN) loss-win difference wave (d-FRN) upon presentation of proposed offers compared with powerless participants only in the gain context. Interestingly, in a later time window, differences of P300 responses to proposed offers were modulated by social power in both gain and loss contexts. These results suggested that powerful people were more sensitive to fairness levels and FRN may manifest fairness consideration in a gain context, but not in a loss context. Meanwhile, P300 is sensitive to fairness considerations in both gain and loss contexts.

Can the Internet of Things Persuade Me? An Investigation Into Power Dynamics in Human-Internet of Things Interaction.

The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) has revolutionized user experience with objects. Things can perform social roles and convey persuasive messages to users, posing an important research question for communication and human-computer interaction researchers: What are the factors and underlying mechanisms that shape persuasive effects of IoT? Bridging the reactance theory and the computers are social actors paradigm, this study focuses on how power dynamics are shaped in human-IoT interactions and its implications on persuasion. Specifically, the study examines the effects of the social role assigned to the IoT mobile app agent and the scope of IoT controlled by the app on users' perceived power and subsequent persuasive outcomes. The results reveal that when the mobile IoT app is for controlling a smart home, the servant (vs. companion) agent elicits greater perceived power over IoT for users, leading to less threat-to-freedom and better persuasive outcomes, including attitude, intention, and actual behavior. However, such a difference is not observed when the mobile app is for controlling a single smart device (i.e., smart fridge). The study findings offer valuable implications for communication practitioners interested in using IoT as a persuasive tool.

Effect of Social Power, Cultural Intelligence, and Socioeconomic Status on Students' International Entrepreneurial Intention.

Background: Undeniably, international entrepreneurship is important to a nation's development. The government has engaged in various activities to support international entrepreneurship in China. However, the results were less embracing, particularly among students. Therefore, understanding the factors that influence students' intentions toward international entrepreneurship is vital in the effort to develop entrepreneurship. Therefore, this study examined whether social power and international entrepreneurship intention are related based on social capital theory, as well as the possible influence of cultural intelligence and socioeconomic status on this relationship. Methods: A quantitative study was conducted to test the hypotheses. Data were collected through paper-based questionnaires from 372 undergraduate students at 19 universities in China. The partial least squares structural equation modeling technique was used to analyze the data and test the hypotheses using the SmartPLS software. Results: Social power has a positive effect on international entrepreneurship intentions, and motivational cultural intelligence plays a mediating role in this relationship. In addition, behavioral cultural intelligence played a mediating role in this relationship but not in the hypothesized direction. The effect of social power on international entrepreneurship intentions via motivational cultural intelligence is strengthened by socioeconomic status. However, socioeconomic status failed to moderate the mediating effects of social power on international entrepreneurship intentions, as transmitted through behavioral cultural intelligence. Conclusion: This study contributes to the scarce empirical literature on students' international entrepreneurship intention in China by testing the relationship between social power and international entrepreneurship intention via cultural intelligence. In addition, these findings demonstrate that future research should focus on improving students' perceptions of international entrepreneurship as an important career choice.

Personal socio-cultural preferences modulate neural correlates of decisions to socialize with powerful persons.

Social power differences fundamentally shape the behavioral interaction dynamics of groups and societies. While it has long been recognized that individual socio-cultural preferences mitigate social interactions involving persons of power, there is limited empirical data on the underlying neural correlates. To bridge this gap, we asked university student participants to decide whether they were willing to engage in social activities involving their teachers (higher power status), classmates (equal power status), or themselves (control) while functional brain images were acquired. Questionnaires assessed participants' preferences for power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and cultural intelligence. As expected, participants generally accepted more social interactions with classmates than teachers. Also, left inferior frontal activity was higher when accepting than when rejecting social interactions with teachers. Critically, power distance preferences further modulated right lateral frontoparietal activity contrasting approach relative to avoidance decisions towards teachers. In addition, uncertainty avoidance modulated activity in medial frontal, precuneus, and left supramarginal areas distinguishing approach decisions towards teachers relative to classmates. Cultural intelligence modulated neural responses to classmate approach/avoidance decisions in anterior cingulate and left parietal areas. Overall, functional activities in distinct brain networks reflected different personal socio-cultural preferences despite observed social decisions to interact with others of differential power status. Such findings highlight that social approach or avoidance behaviors towards powerful persons involves differential subjective neural processes possibly involved in computing implicit social utility.

"First Catch Your Hare": Some Difficulties with, and Contextual Factors in, Understanding (In)Appropriate Workplace Relationships.

The article considers the contextual factors that lead to descriptions of workplace relationships as appropriate and inappropriate. It reviews viewpoint, context of activity, and the tension between social and personal relationships in environments based on task completion. If relationships are the sum of series of interactions, then interactions must be judged in context before compilation. The vantage point of viewers will complicate these assessments, as will the rhetorical purpose of the reporter.

Early presence of a "power = males" association: Girls link power to their gender less often than boys but can be as motivated to gain it.

In three studies, it was tested whether children (N = 184; aged 6-10 years, White, mid- to high income) from a U.S. midwestern city used other individuals' gender and race to predict who is in charge and the means by which power is gained (Study 1) and whether children's own gender predicted their assignments of positions of authority (Study 2A) and pursuits of positions of authority (Study 2B). When asked to predict who was in charge at different workplaces, with age White children decreased their race-based, power-related favoritism; children were increasingly likely with age to link White adults to rather questionable routes to power as well as Black adults with meritorious reasons for gaining power (Study 1). In addition, boys (but not girls) systematically associated power with adult workers of their own gender and did so regardless of whether or not power had been obtained meritoriously (Study 1). Nonetheless, when given the option to assign an authority role (Study 2A) or assume an authority role (Study 2B), boys and girls exhibited comparable levels of in-group and self-biases.

Smart energy systems beyond the age of COVID-19: Towards a new order of monitoring, disciplining and sanctioning energy behavior?

The Corona pandemic has led to the increased use of online tools throughout society, whether in business, education, or daily life. This shift to an online society has led social scientists to question the extent to which increased forms of control, surveillance and enforced conformity to ways of thinking, attitudes and behaviors can be promoted through online activities. This question arises overtly amidst a pandemic, but it also lurks behind the widespread diffusion of smart energy systems throughout the world and the increased use of smart meters in those systems. The extent to which forms of monitoring, disciplining and sanctioning of energy behavior and practices could come to reality is thus an important question to consider. This article does so using the ideas of Michel Foucault, together with research on smart energy systems and current trends in energy policy. The article closes with a discussion of energy democracy and democratic legitimacy in the context of possible effects of smart technologies on community energy systems.

Power in Aggressor-Victim Relationships: Exploring Social, Physical, Gender- and Ethnicity-Based Power.

Theory highlights power in aggressor-victim relationships, yet empirical work assessing dyadic power is largely absent. Variability in power balance versus imbalance within aggressor-victim dyads (based on social, physical, gender- and ethnicity-based power) was explored. Participants (N = 952; grade 6-8; 50% girls, 44% Hispanic/Latina/o) nominated aggressors and victims (4662 aggressor-victim dyads; 642 strong dyads [based on reputational strength]; 169 sustained dyads [based on longevity]). Dyadic social power (social network centrality and prestige) was calculated from friendship nominations. Self-report was used for dyadic physical (body mass index), gender- and ethnicity-based power. Across power indicators, there were more power-balanced than imbalanced dyads (particularly for strong and sustained dyads). The findings challenge theoretical notions that aggressors are more powerful than their victims and have implications for aggressor-victim relationships.

Avoidant authority: The effect of organizational power on decision-making in high-uncertainty situations.

Individuals in positions of power are often required to make high-stakes decisions. The approach-inhibition theory of social power holds that elevated power activates approach-related tendencies, leading to decisiveness and action orientation. However, naturalistic decision-making research has often reported that increased power often has the opposite effect and causes more avoidant decision-making. To investigate the potential activation of avoidance-related tendencies in response to elevated power, this study employed an immersive scenario-based battery of least-worst decisions (the Least-Worst Uncertain Choice Inventory for Emergency Responses; LUCIFER) with members of the United States Armed Forces. In line with previous naturalistic decision-making research on the effect of power, this research found that in conditions of higher power, individuals found decisions more difficult and were more likely to make an avoidant choice. Furthermore, this effect was more pronounced in domain-specific decisions for which the individual had experience. These findings expand our understanding of when, and in what contexts, power leads to approach vs. avoidant tendencies, as well as demonstrate the benefits of bridging methodological divides that exist between "in the lab" and "in the field" when studying high-uncertainty decision-making.

The effects of social vs. personal power on universal dimensions of social perception.

The present study expands previous research on the effects of power on stereotyping by investigating the impact of two types of power (social power and personal power) on two universal dimensions of social perception; warmth and competence. Results from an experiment (N = 377) in which participants were randomly assigned to provide their impression of either (1) poor people or (2) rich people, suggest that the two types of power produce different effects on perceptions of warmth and competence. Personal power increased stereotype consistent perceptions of warmth whereas social power increased stereotype consistent perceptions of competence as well as agency, which was identified as a separate dimension. The pattern of results is discussed in view of previous work on power effects and stereotyping, and potential explanations and suggestions for future research are outlined.