【作者】 邓棉琳； 崔丽娟；

【Author】 Mianlin Deng;Lijuan Cui;School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University;

【机构】 华东师范大学心理与认知科学学院；

【摘要】 趋近(approach)和抑制(inhibition)是两种最基本的动机形式与行为倾向,反映着个体与环境的交互方式,是人类趋利避害,适应环境的核心机能。Keltner(2003)的权力的趋近—抑制理论认为,高权力能激活行为趋近系统,促进与趋近相关的情绪、认知和行为;而低权力能激活行为抑制系统,增加与抑制相关的心理与行为。近年来,研究发现高权→趋近/低权→抑制的联系并非稳定不变,会受很多因素的影响和调节。本研究关注积极和消极评价对于低权力个体的抑制行为倾向的影响,共分为三部分。第一部分首先探究了低权力、抑制行为倾向与评价三者间的关系。研究1对过往研究中被试的低权力启动描述进行了二次分析,研究2采用日记法记录了被试三天的社交情况。两项研究发现,低权力经历与抑制行为倾向具有高相关,但这一相关仅发生在个体在低权力经历中也受到了消极评价。第二部分在基于第一部分提出的变量关系的基础上,通过实验操纵个体的权力(低权vs基线)和受到的评价(积极vs消极),充分检验评价对于低权→抑制关系的作用。研究3探究了评价对于低权者整体行为倾向的影响;研究4和研究5采用眼动技术和线上实验分别考察了评价对于低权者在社交和决策中的行为倾向的影响;研究6同时考察了评价对于低权者1)回避行为和2)行为趋近—抑制动机(大脑左半球优势)的影响,并提出了有中介的调节模型,该模型指出消极评价与低权力导致的行为回避是由于大脑行为抑制系统得到激活的中介作用,这也为本研究提供了认知神经方面的证据支持。第三部分将第二部分内容拓展到现实情境,在工业组织背景下检验积极和消极评价对于低权力个体行为倾向的作用。研究7发现对基层员工工作表现的评价会调节他们在工作中的趋近和回避倾向。研究8发现对基层员工的积极评价可以缓和工作冲突,提升沟通意愿。综上,本研究认为,低权力促进抑制行为倾向仅当个体受到了消极评价时。这一结论拓展了对权力趋近—抑制理论边际条件和作用机制的探索,同时也具有一定的准实践意义。更多还原

【Abstract】 From the theory of approach and inhibition, there are two typical motivational system which are associated with individuals’ response to the environment, the behavioral approach system(BAS) and the behavioral inhibition system(BIS)(see Gray, 1994, for a review). A broad array of research has shown that elevated power activates the BAS. Power-holders experience more positive emotions, are more sensitive to rewards, and act more approach-related behavior. Whereas reduced power activates the BIS, and elicits negative affect, sensitivity to potential threat, and avoidant behavior(Keltner, Gruenfeld, & Anderson, 2003). Although the proposition that powerlessness is associated with inhibition is considered universal, a growing literature suggests that powerless individuals can display approach-related tendencies under certain circumstances. Here we examined how positive and negative evaluative feedback of performance affects approach/inhibition orientation in the powerless. The current research included three parts. The first part explored the role of evaluative feedback in the relationship between powerlessness and inhibition orientation. Study 1 involved content analyses of powerless past event descriptions that participants wrote in irrelevant studies on power. Study 2 used experience sampling to investigate the prevalence of power-related experiences in individuals’ daily life. These two studies found that most of the powerless experiences involved that participants received negative evaluative feedback. The second part directly examined the interactive effects of powerlessness and evaluative feedback on behavioral tendencies. Across four studies, we orthogonally manipulated power(powerless vs. control) and evaluative feedback(positive vs. negative). Study 3 tested the effects of powerlessness and evaluative feedback on a general tendency of behavioral inhibition. Studies 4 and 5 used eye-tracking and online experiment to examine the interaction between powerlessness and evaluative feedback on behavioral tendencies during social interactions and decision-making. These three studies consistently found that powerlessness triggers inhibition orientation among powerless individuals only when the powerless received negative evaluative feedback. Study 6 explored the joint effects of powerlessness and evaluative feedback on frontal hemisphere asymmetry typically associated with approach/inhibition motivation, as well as on behavioral tendencies(social distance) to a target(power holder vs. control). Moreover, in this study we also tested a mediated moderation model showing that under a powerless condition negative evaluation triggers avoidance of powerful targets, and this is primarily driven by the activation of the BIS. The third part extended this research to a more natural environment. We explored whether our findings of the second part generalize to the domain of industrial organization. Study 7 revealed that evaluative feedback of work performance moderated the impact of powerlessness on employees’ avoidance tendencies at work. Study 8 showed that positive evaluation or affirmation could boost ordinary powerless employees’ willingness to communicate and reconciliate when a workplace conflict occurred. Thus, we conclude that evaluative feedback plays a crucial role in determining how powerlessness affects individuals, in particular whether it activates the behavioral inhibition, an assumption that dominated over 15 years of research on power. The present work contributes to the understanding of boundary conditions of the theory of power-approach/powerlessness-inhibition and offers some insights into organizational practice.更多还原