Power, effort investment, and efficiency

The powerful typically achieve better outcomes than the powerless. Does this mean that the powerful generally invest greater effort when pursuing their goals than the powerless? Or are they more efficient and more likely to regulate their effort? We showed that the powerless decreased their effort when the goal was far as well as after receiving negative feedback. The powerful’s effort investment was less affected by goal proximity and performance feedback. Moreover, an EEG study provided evidence that compared to the powerless, the powerful needed to invest fewer cognitive resources for similar performance. Together, these findings suggest that the powerful might be more efficient, they invest in their goals early on in the goal pursuit process, and keep up their effort investment when they face obstacles. The powerless, in turn, invest greater effort when goal attainment seems near and feasible and disengage when facing obstacles.  

This talk is part of the series Invited Speakers - Faculty of Psychology. It will take place in Brig, on the groundfloor of UniDistance Suisse's headquarters. You may also join online. The link for participation in the event is the following: http://bit.ly/unidistance.

Speaker

Find out more about Dr. Petra Schmid on her profile page.