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Why do so many men get caught with their pants down around their ankles? Why do so many politicians take bribes? Why do people of influence think they are above it all, no matter how it affects others lower down on the scale? The answer is easy: power.
Many years ago I was doing research for a new speaking topic and got into studying the psychology of power. This is a fascinating subject and with just a little bit of understanding it all begins to make sense.
To some people power is as much of an attraction as money and as much of an aphrodisiac as oysters are said to be. There are men and women at all levels of business and politics who like to be in control and have dominion over the lives of others. Philip G. Zimbardo of the Psychology Department of Standford University says the psychology of power, “is anti-social behavior by individuals that includes violence, torture and terrorism.”
Deborah Gruenfeld, a professor of organizational behavior, has been studying the psychology of power for over seven years says that power results in something called disinhibition. “Disinhibition involves acting on your own desires in a social context without considering the effects of your actions. It implies a heightened sensitivity to your own internal state and also a reduced sensitivity to other’s interests and experiences. It implies action orientation in pursuit of a goal and also the possibility that you might use others as a means to an end.”
Professor Gruenfeld continues by stating that “powerful people are more action-oriented even when it’s unclear whether acting is permissible or socially appropriate. They’re less concerned with what others think of them and their behavior and less cognizant of what others think of them in general. As a result, they’re more inclined to see the social world through the lens of self-interest and to view people as instruments for the accomplishment of personal goals.” This is why so many people in power positions seem out of touch with the reality of what is going on in the World, and insulation and isolated from those they have control over. It’s all about self-interest and self-dealing.
Take a group of power players and put them together in one place, like Congress, and you can see how works. They are surrounded by others just like them, cared for by staffs that isolate them, and coddled by lobbyists who feed their egos and fill their demands in hopes of gaining influence. And the White House is even worse. In a recent television interview, former President, Bill Clinton, briefly addressed the issue of the isolation of the office and surroundings. Remember, aids and advisors work “at the pleasure of the President,” and the minute one of them decides to be a little too blunt or express an unwelcome comment, they suddenly decide to retire from the job in order to “spend more time with the family.”
And it’s not just politicians. Executive officers surround themselves with “yes people,” including hand-picked Boards of Directors, who give in on every account so they get what they want, when they want it, and done just how they want it done. Their attendants isolate them from the World in general, and keep them from hearing the bad news of what’s happening in lower stratas of the company, until it’s too late to do anything about it, and they are forced to put on their golden parachutes and bail. And sometimes that never happens because they exercise their power and control and make others the scapegoats, holding on to the power they have endlessly.
Plus there is the factor of domination. For example, in the case of a politician having an extramarital affair or two (or dozens), it boils down to the longer they are in a marriage, the less control they have. They may have dominated their spouse in the beginning, but as time passes, their spouse gains more control in the relationship until they perhaps become equals. Then the politician no longer has control and begins to look for others he or she can dominate, when in many cases the truth is the new dominee is actually in control due to role-playing. If a person of power can retain control and domination in the marriage, they are less likely to seek affairs outside the martial relationship. A good example of this is the passive behavior of Great Britain’s Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s husband when they both made public appearances together.
Then there are times when the opposite is true…the person of power wants to be dominated by someone else. They are willing to set aside the power they have and allow someone else take control due to feelings of inadequacy and possibly incompetence. This is the case where someone who rises to a position of power is in a marriage or relationship where the spouse is dominate, making all the familial decisions. In this case the relationship becomes stale because the power-player is no longer feeling the pleasure of being dominated, so they look elsewhere to get their fix. I know of a case in the Midwest where a very skilled, highly respected physician who teaches others in a university setting to do what he does so well, and is seen as a man of power and influence in the medical and general community lives with a man who is an employee of an insurance company but has all the power and dominion in the relationship. He tells the doctor what he can and can’t do, how to act and behave, and has frequent flare-ups of anger as a control mechanism.
The crimes and misdemeanors committed by people of power happen so freely because they believe, due to their position in society, they are above the law, and if they do get caught they deserve privilege and partiality. Look at the attempts by the lawyers for Bernie Madoff who tried to convince the judge that the sentence for what Mr. Madoff had done should be nothing more than 10 to 12 years, and maybe even nothing more than a slap on the back of the hands. Yeah, right.
Perhaps now you’ll have a little better idea of why people of power, privilege and influence act they way they do. There is no excuse for their behavior, but it is the result of getting used to something that becomes very addictive over time. They are like drug addicts who are in denial and see nothing wrong with their behavior. There is saying, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” I suppose that’s true. Look at how the naïve young congressman or woman goes to Washington with high ideals, ambition, and a strict sense of morals and values, then take a look at them a few years later and you get a idea of just how true that saying really is.
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