Why power corrupts people

Looking to current events, even after we allow for the normal restrictions of partisanship politics, does not the pure inanity of the debt ceiling fiasco provide us with more evidence of this point than we care to see?

So why does power corrupt? It corrupts because it gives license to unconsciousness and neglect. It corrupts because it licenses individuals to unilaterally, unreflectively and thus arbitrarily impose their will on others.

It licenses individuals to impose their will without having properly engaged and processed through the Reality at hand. Power inflates the ego and through it the ego is erroneously led to believe it has the power to make people, ideas and even Reality itself disappear without due process. In the big picture nothing is further from the truth.

Power corrupts because it gives license to unconsciousness, and in so doing it not only destroys the growth opportunity of the victim of such imposition, but no less the growth opportunity of the victimizer. Failure to engage another in consciousness, not only does the other individual harm, but it no less does serious harm to oneself, for in both cases the precious opportunity to extend consciousness by way of self-organizing nature is altogether lost, corrupted.

As in the other experiment, the participants were asked to picture themselves either in a position of power or a position without power, and also asked to think about how they would act or how they should act. The researchers found that the when people were in the position of power and were asked to think about how they would act, they were more unethical. That is, they were more likely to lie about their point total than were those who were not in a position of power.

When the people in the position of power were asked to think about how they should act, on the other hand, they acted more ethically. Making people in power "think about how they should behave may serve as a potential form of preventative medicine against the abuse of power," Hu said. The investigators noted, however, that more research is needed to see if these results would also apply in real-world situations.

Those who do find success typically do so by virtue of the animal soul, if for no other reason than because it is absolutely necessary. It is also used as a textbook for businesses, and includes mantras such as: "Conceal your intentions," "Get others to do the work for you, but Always Take the credit," and "Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy.

These understood and frequently applied rules for obtaining power necessitate that regardless of whether or not one begins down a path toward power with a certain amount of innocence, by repeating these acts they will -- if they are to truly succeed -- unleash their animal soul.

Those acts required for obtaining power are, in and of themselves, the type of acts people would categorize as corrupt. Ultimately, for those who do find success and power, their animal soul has become so dominant over time that it becomes the norm.

And when one reaches the apex of their respective position -- be it the leader of a nation, the CEO of a business, or head of a religious body -- they have pronounced all the qualities of the animal soul, to the point that it is now completely unopposed by the godly soul.

And in such positions of power, with nobody to resist them, they are now in a position which allows for essentially doing whatever, whenever, and without fear of consequence. The animal soul has essentially crushed out the godly soul through the trajectory toward success. That is why power corrupts -- because it is the same activity that got you to where you are, but now it is unopposed. And those who can do whatever they want nearly always do whatever they want.

Most people who get to positions of power are of this predisposition, with the animal soul occupying the dominant part of their constitution -- so much so that it is second nature to behave as such. There are exceptions, but the vast majority of powerful people falling into the animal category, the potential for corruption is ample.

The difference between the minority and the majority can be attributed to one's perception. When one attains success, especially true power, they mostly feel as if they have attained it themselves. Nevertheless, despite what people in power may believe, they did not get to where they are on their own. The truth is that power is given as much as it is taken.

In almost all cases, if power is to continue, the people underneath you must have the willingness to allow you to remain in that position. And that set in motion this whole exploration. Humans are this balance of impulse and our ego, our sense of morality and our sense of what other people think of us, and power shifts this balance. Suddenly when I feel powerful, I can eat the cookies however I want to. I can swear at my colleagues. I can touch people in a way that feels good to me, but not necessarily worry about how it feels to them.

That really set in motion this idea that power leads people to feel entitled to take more resources. Dacher Keltner: One really interesting area of research is work in organizations. We know you create a better team if as a leader you speak in a respectful way. You compliment. You bring out the best, you praise people. You ask good questions. And so researchers have been asking who is more likely to swear in a rude fashion at their work colleagues. And three out of the four acts of rudeness come from people in positions of power in organizations in different sectors.

I could not believe this finding. By sharing it. Dacher Keltner: Yeah, and the sense of accountability or the sense of being scrutinized is so powerful. All you have to do in studies now is actually place a geometric arrangement of dots, with two dots at the top and the little dot at the bottom, that kind of resembles the human face.

If I am have sense of being watched, I become less greedy and less entitled in taking resources in positions of power.