Unchecked unilateral power degrades power holders’ regard for those they control

Evidence

Under certain conditions, wielding institutional power changes the power holders in ways that are conducive to dehumanization. This happens when persons in positions of authority have coercive power over others but with few safeguards to constrain their behavior. In such situations, those in power come to devalue those over whom they wield control. In Zimbardo’s (2007) classic simulated prison experiment, college students were randomly assigned roles as either inmates or guards. Given unilateral power, the guards quickly began treating their inmate charges in degrading, tyrannical ways. Kipnis (1974) documents the devaluing effects of unilateral power even when it involves the use of reward as the mode of influence. Compared with supervisors who had to rely on their persuasive skills to improve workers’ performance, those who influenced workers’ behavior through money rewards thought less of their ability and performances, viewed them as objects to be manipulated to get things done, and had less desire to associate with them. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 614

Categorization

• XREF: The Zimbardo prison experiment connects directly to the systemic dehumanization mechanisms discussed later in this same book’s framework.
• SEED: Angles: whether modern workplace ‘reward-based’ management secretly degrades managers’ view of employees, or how any unchecked authority—even benevolent—corrupts perception.