Power, approach, and inhibition

Power loosens the protocol and its absence tightens it: less power means more attention to others and more inhibition.

Keltner, D., Gruenfeld, D. H. & Anderson, C. (2003). Power, approach, and inhibition. Psychological Review, 110(2), 265–284.

Type

Journal article

Find it

doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.110.2.265

Checked

Against the abstract, 15 September 2026

Why it is on the list

Keltner, Gruenfeld and Anderson propose that elevated power activates approach, with more disinhibited behaviour, while reduced power activates inhibition, with more attention to threat and to other people’s interests. The account has been contested in print. Week 12 uses it for the course’s closing observation: whoever holds less power runs more of the protocol, and pays the ledger’s costs more often.