The Psychological Assessment of Political Leadersor concern about reputation and prestige. The following are exam-
ples of power motive imagery in political speeches or interviews.
"We embraced the ideals that moved nations and shook the
world."
"To make this bargain would be a disgrace from which the
good name of our country would never recover."
"The measures indicated in your statement constitute a serious
threat to the security of nations."
The notion of a power motive or "will to power" may stir up
images of a Napoleon or Hitler, but power in the sense of affecting
the behavior of others is an essential feature—indeed, often a
beneficent one—of everyday activity in any kind of organized soci-
ety. People who use a lot of power motive imagery tend to make
themselves visible and well known to others, are active in organiza-
tions, and are drawn to certain careers (e.g., business, teaching, ther-
apy, journalism) that give the opportunity (even duty) to directly
control and sanction the behavior of other persons. They tend to be
successful managers, able to create high morale in their subordinates
even if they are not personally liked.^2 They are adept at building
alliances with others (especially lower-status others), and in small
groups they actively define the situation, encourage people to partic-
ipate, and influence others.
This is the good side of power motivation, when it is tempered by
self-control, a sense of responsibility, altruism, or sheer inhibition.
But there is another side to power motivation, a shadow perhaps
inherent in power but perhaps especially emergent in the absence of
responsibility or self-control. People scoring high in power motive
imagery are vulnerable to ingratiation and flattery. They tend to
improve only after success, not after failure. In making decisions,
they give relatively little attention to moral considerations. They
also take extreme risks, are verbally and physically aggressive (even
in intimate relationships), and display a variety of impulsive behav-
iors such as exploitative sex, alcohol use, and drug use. Thus the
drive for power (to quote Lord Acton's famous observation) tends to
corrupt. Finally, power motivation, especially when combined with
stress and the need for control, is associated with excessive sympa-
thetic nervous system activity, lower immune system functioning,