| How can we define power? Power is known to be a measure of a person's ability to control the environment around them, including the behavior of other people. The term authority is often used for power, perceived as legitimate by the social structure. Power can also be seen as evil or unjust. However, the exercise of power is accepted as endemic to humans as social beings. In today's class, we discussed the importance of power in interpersonal relationships, emphasizing the nature of power and its principles, its types, and the ways to communicate power. Principles of Power What is power? What principles govern the operation of power in interpersonal relationships? -Some people are more powerful than others; some are born to power, others learn it. -Some people are more Machiavellian than others; people differ in their beliefs about the extent to which people can be controlled by others. -Power can be increased or decreased; power is never static. -Power follows the principle of less interest; generally, the less interest, the greater the power. -Power has a cultural dimension; power is distributed differently in different cultures. -Power is often used unfairly, as in sexual harassment and power plays. Types of Power What types of power can one person have over another?  Referent power : The influence that comes from members' liking and respect for one another. Legitimate Power : The influence that comes from the authority of your rate and position in the chain of command. Expert Power : Ability to influence someone regarding a course of action because of a specific knowledge, experience or expertise. Information or persuasion Power : Having the ability to change people's attitudes largely through the skillful use of language. Reward Power : Compliance achieved based on the ability to distribute rewards that others view as valuable. Coercive Power : Authority or power that is dependent on fear, suppression of free will, or use of punishment or threat, for its existence. Communicating Power How can you communicate power? ->Speaking power includes, for example, avoiding hesitations, disqualifiers, and self-critical statements. ->Nonverbal power includes avoiding adaptors, using consistent packaging, and avoiding excessive movements. ->Listening power includes responding visibly, maintaining eye contact and an open posture, and avoiding interrupting. ->Compliance-gaining and compliance-resisting tactics enable you to influence others to do as you want or enable you to resist compliance attempts of others. Compliance-gaining tactics include expressing liking, making promises, and threatening. Compliance-resisting tactics include using identity management and negotiation. ->Empowering others enables them to gain power and control over themselves and over the environment. Empowering others has numerous advantages, for example, empowered people are more proactive and more responsible. Empowering others involves such strategies as being positive, avoiding verbal aggressiveness and abusiveness, and encouraging growth, and especially helpful and most often greatly appreciated in cases of shyness or high communication apprehension. Power in interpersonal relationships from Laras Mukti Show Classifying different types of power that people can exert over one another in interpersonal communication can help analyze the power balance in any situation. It can assist people in leadership positions exert influence over subordinates, and help one of the parties in an argument or negotiation get the upper hand. From an academic perspective, it can help understand the hierarchical dynamics at play in in interpersonal communication in different societies. Expert PowerHaving expert knowledge about a subject that others value and do not possess themselves can give someone the upper hand in communication. In work situations, the person with the valued knowledge is a person people respect and often refer to for help. However, this does not mean that expert power alone can help a person move through organizational levels because it usually takes leadership, networking skills and management experience to advance through the ranks. Referent PowerThe ability to empathize with subordinates gives a leader referent power in communication. This means that they can identify with how their subordinates feel and think because they can relate back to their own similar experiences in the past. This power can improve interpersonal communication channels across different organizational hierarchies. Information PowerLinked closely to expert power, information power refers to the importance of presenting information coherently and logically. Without information power, having expertise would not be as useful as you would never be able to make a compelling case or win an argument or motivate your employees. Legitimate PowerLegitimate power in interpersonal communication comes from formal titles, such as manager, owner, parent, teacher and coach. The effectiveness of legitimate power depends on how the person uses it. If a person abuses their authority, they will lose legitimacy and they will become less effective. However, if they use their power judiciously to do good and help people, their power will be enhanced and they will become more effective. Reward PowerReward power supports legitimate power. An employee is likely to respond favorably to orders and directions if he receives a tangible reward, such as a better job assignment or a pay raise. Rewards can also be intangible -- for example, verbal approval, encouragement and praise can be as effective as tangible rewards. Coercive PowerThe opposite of reward power, coercive power is the ability to punish someone for noncompliance with an order or direction. It complements legitimate power, but in a negative way because compliance is achieved not out of respect, but out of fear. Examples of coercive power include labor union strike threats, denial of promotion or pay raise and litigation. What is the meaning of interpersonal power?There are many different definitions of interpersonal power, but it is often defined as the capacity to produce intended effects and, in particular, the ability to influence the behavior of another person.
What is power in human relations?Power is the degree of authority that a person has in an organization, community, or society. People in authoritative positions are said to have power because they can influence how work is done in the organization, and they can also influence people to perform tasks because of their authority.
What is power in interpersonal conflict?Power arises from the conjunction of one person's resources with another person's wants, needs or goals, that is, from one person's dependence on another.
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