5.Why politicians get greedier when they become more...
How many times have you asked, ‘haven't they made enough already' when another politician is exposed in a corruption scam? There must be something wrong the world, you may console yourself. Sadly, time and time again research in psychology concluded that people get greedier when they feel powerful.
A 2003 study by Dacher Keltner, Cameron Anderson of the University of California and Deborah H. Gruenfeld of Stanford University titled 'Power, Approach, and Inhibition' states elevated power is associated with increased rewards and freedom and thereby activates approach-related tendencies. The paper says, "powerful individuals gravitate to positions of power and that power prompts disinhibited, self-serving behaviour and stereotypic social perceptions"
People feeling powerful are more attentive to social rewards construe others in terms of how they satisfy their own goals and needs and act in a more disinhibited and at times counter-normative fashion, concludes the study. The research also explains why sexual harassment in cultures where women are subordinated and hate crimes against minority groups happens, as well.
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