2020 Volume 53 Issue 3 Pages 36-48
According to research findings in social psychology and organizational behavior, acquiring power in organization seems to have various influences over manager’s cognitions, affects and behaviors. This paper focuses on powerholder’s partiality. In other words, a relationship between a sense of social power and in-group favoritism (in-group bias) are studied. Combining Social Identity Theory with existing findings on psychological effects of power, the paper hypothesizes that those with high social power tend to overtly favor their in-group or in-group members. To verify this prediction, a psychological experiment was conducted, in which 66 MBA students participated. The hypothesis is supported only among specific participants―Japanese male participants. Some managerial implications from the findings are also discussed.
