Power Can Corrupt And It Makes You Tall
We all know the experience of doing something stupid or bad and getting called on it and the resulting consequence of “feeling small”. Or is it just me? Anyway, most of us have felt small at one time or another but what about the opposite? Have you ever done something that made you feel tall? A good deed, a moment of character?
Well if not, there may still be a chance and all you have to do is become the boss.According to a new study, achieving a position of power just might make you feel taller.
The study is outlined in the journal Psychological Science.
It wasn’t a huge study…just 300 people participated in three experiments. The trio of activities, such as being chosen as a manager versus being an underling, were designed to make the human guinea pigs feel more or less powerful.
And here’s the interesting part…if you were manipulated to feel powerful in the experiment it affected your physical sense of self.
For example, after the experiments the subjects were asked to pick objects they thought matched their own height and without fail, participants in a position of power overestimated their height.
The researchers acknowledge that more physically imposing individuals are more likely to acquire power, but this work is the first to show that powerful people feel taller than they are.
I’m 6 foot four inches tall and am wondering…when does that “more wealth and influence” thing kick in again ???
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