Powerful or powerless when change is needed: Effects of power on escalation of commitment

• Hongchang Li

  Zhejiang University

• Zhongming Wang

  Zhejiang University

We investigated how either lack or possession of power affects the individual’s escalation of commitment (EOC), that is, the decision to continue the original course of action when confronted with negative feedback. We differentiated the motivational and cognitive approaches to EOC, and argued that both lacking power (being powerless) and possessing power (being powerful) would intensify the effects of these two approaches so that high-power individuals and low-power individuals would be more prone to EOC than were those with a moderate degree of power. We conducted two studies with university students as participants. We used different measures of EOC; in the first study we measured general sense of power and in the second we primed power. In both studies results showed that there was a quadratic relationship between power and EOC. The implications for the research on EOC, de-escalation, and power are discussed.

1. Hongchang Li, Zhejiang University
   Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
2. Zhongming Wang, Zhejiang University
   School of Management

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