Authorities' Coercive and Legitimate Power
- Author(s)
- Eva Hofmann, Barbara Hartl, Katharina Gangl, Martina Hartner-Tiefenthaler, Erico Kirchler
- Abstract
The execution of coercive and legitimate power by an authority assures cooperation and prohibits free-riding. While coercive power can be comprised of severe punishment and strict monitoring, legitimate power covers expert, and informative procedures. The perception of these powers wielded by authorities stimulates specific cognitions: trust, relational climates, and motives. With four experiments, the single and combined impact of coercive and legitimate power on these processes and on intended cooperation of n1 = 120, n2 = 130, n3 = 368, and n4 = 102 student participants is investigated within two exemplary contexts (tax contributions, insurance claims). Findings reveal that coercive power increases an antagonistic climate and enforced compliance, whereas legitimate power increases reason-based trust, a service climate, and voluntary cooperation. Unexpectedly, legitimate power is additionally having a negative effect on an antagonistic climate and a positive effect on enforced compliance; these findings lead to a modification of theoretical assumptions. However, solely reason-based trust, but not climate perceptions and motives, mediates the relationship between power and intended cooperation. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Occupational, Economic and Social Psychology
- External organisation(s)
- Coventry University, Johannes Kepler Universität Linz, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Technische Universität Wien
- Journal
- Frontiers in Psychology
- Volume
- 8
- No. of pages
- 15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00005
- Publication date
- 01-2017
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 501029 Economic psychology
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Psychology
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/4ab37936-0798-4ccd-b93b-75893e0a7ec1