Bridging Time and Power: How changes in social power influence individuals’ prosocial behavior at work

Social power is dynamic in nature and individuals experience changes in their power throughout their careers (e.g., due to promotions or other changes in control over valuable resources). Yet, how does gaining or losing power affects people’s behavior? For example, people who experience high power are less likely to help others. Will these effects change based on whether current experience of power was preceded by an experience of low versus high power? In this dissertation, I try to answer this question. I theorize and show using three experimental studies, and one field study, that past power generates emotional and cognitive reactions which in turn impact individuals’ current prosocial behavior, in ways that depart from behaviors observed when a traditional static view of power is taken into account. My work thus challenges fundamental assumptions about how the experience of power shapes behavior and highlights how taking the dynamics of power into account changes our understanding of its effects on cognitions, emotions, and behaviors.Doctor of Philosoph