Researchers recently looked into whether gender influences this experienced sense of power in objectively low and high power positions (interviewer and interviewee). In addition, they wanted to understand whether men are more likely than women to feel powerful in lower power positions due to the “cushioning account”, by which men are able to draw upon a back-up power source generally afforded to men as a group. The study also investigated whether women’s ability to experience power was limited in higher power positions, also known as the “ceiling account”.
What the research systematically showed across three studies, was that in objectively low power positions, men experience a reliably higher sense of power than women, thus confirming the “cushioning account”. Women’s sense of power in low power positions varied according to the power afforded to them contextually. When it came to objectively high power positions, the difference in experienced power between men and women disappeared. Objective power created an equalizing effect by which both men and women experienced equal levels of subjective power.
For the fields of conflict and peace studies, understanding how power is experienced across genders sheds light on the dynamics of global power inequities, as well as the underlying processes and experiences that keep them in place. The researchers suggest that placing more women in high power positions could help alleviate gender-based power disparities. Perhaps this would afford women, even those in lower power positions, their own cushion and back-up power source. What can you do? Start by making it a practice to look around and assess who are the power holders, what groups they belong to (what gender, skin color, ethnicity, class), and what part you can play in ensuring that a sense of power, and its benefits, are accessible to all.
Fontaine, A.S., & Vorauer, J.D. (2019). How Low Can You(r Power) Go? It Depends on Whether You are Male or Female. Sex Roles, 80(3-4), 147-158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-018-0927-3