Study: People Want Power Because They Want Autonomy - The Atlantic - 0 views
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But a new study suggests that people who desire power are mostly looking to control one thing—themselves.
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“Power as influence is expressed in having control over others, which could involve responsibility for others,” they write. “In contrast, power as autonomy is a form of power that allows one person to ignore and resist the influence of others and thus to shape one’s own destiny.” Their question: Which of those things, influence or autonomy, would satisfy people’s desire for power?
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But within the assistants, those who felt that lack of autonomy most strongly were more likely to desire power. Feeling the lack of influence didn’t have the same effect.
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All told, this research indicates that the desire for power may be somewhat misplaced: Generally, when people say they want power, what they really want is autonomy. And when they get that autonomy, they tend to stop wanting power.
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psychological theory that suggests autonomy is one of humans’ basic psychological needs, along with relatedness and competence. Influence is not a need under this theory.
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The study references real leaders like Napoleon, Caesar, Obama, and Putin, and fictional ones like Darth Vader and Sauron, and says, “The sense of autonomy of these powerful individuals is not as visible: It is reflected in the absence of constraint, plans not being thwarted, and ambitions not being frustrated—an absence which remains unobserved.”