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Home |Science in Society | Opinion

Power is the ultimate high
12 July 2012 by Ian Robertson
Magazine issue 2872. Subscribe and save
For similar stories, visit the The Human Brain Topic Guide
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Power really does corrupt – research shows that being boss changes our brains

EVERY week or so, US President Barack Obama's security chiefs give him a list of terror suspects based in Yemen, Somalia or Pakistan, along with biographies and pictures. From this shortlist Obama personally authorises which suspects should be taken out by remote predator drones. The first strike he ordered happened three days after he took office and he was reportedly extremely upset when a number of children were inadvertently killed in the attack.

At this year's White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, the president continued his now famous series of light-hearted singing and jokey press outings with a warning to boy band the Jonas Brothers about his daughters: "Sasha and Malia are huge fans but, boys, don't be getting any ideas. I have two words for you: predator drones. You will never see it coming. You think I'm joking?"

More recently, he was suspected of sexual innuendo when speaking in Beverley Hills. He said: "I want to thank my wonderful friend who accepts a little bit of teasing about Michelle beating her in push-ups - but I think she claims Michelle didn't go all the way down." According to the reporters' pool, the president let the line "hang, naughtily".

No one is sure whether the double-entendre was intentional or not, but at the very least there was a lack of scrutiny to avoid innuendo. Whatever the truth, this is consistent with a more "loosened up" presidential persona, which may be part of an election plan to soften the rather aloof, professorial style that characterised his early presidency.

But another interpretation is possible. The predator drone gag was humorous, but if you or I were given the task of deciding who would die that week - with the possibility of also killing innocent children - would we not find it hard to joke about such strikes?

Consider this. The nearly four years he has spent as the most powerful man in the world has almost certainly reshaped Obama's brain and personality. Power increases testosterone levels, which in turn increases the uptake of dopamine in the brain's reward network. The results are an increase in egocentricity and a reduction in empathy (Psychological Science, vol 17, p 1068).

The tasteless joke about the predator drones was in line with the sort of decline in empathy that even small amounts of power can trigger. Similarly, if he did intend the sexual innuendo in his press-ups joke, that kind of disinhibition would also be characteristic of power's effects on the brain. Even tiny amounts of power, such as being allowed to grade the performance of your partner in a social psychology experiment, changes behaviour.

This can be seen in research by Dacher Keltner and his colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, who showed that when a hierarchical group is presented with a plate of cookies, "the boss" is much more likely to take the last one, and eat it with an open mouth, scattering debris and leaving crumbs on their face. These behaviours are not features of a bad upbringing or sloppy personality; if the same person was part of the group, they would be more likely to eat demurely.

Like many neurotransmitters in the brain, dopamine operates in an "inverted U" shape, where either too little or too much can impair the co-ordinated functioning of the brain. Through its cocaine-like disruption of the brain's reward system, unfettered power leads to real problems of judgement, emotional functioning, self-awareness and inhibition.

Unfettered power can also trigger narcissism and a mentality along the lines of the "hubris syndrome" that the former British cabinet minister David Owen identified, where power becomes an intoxicating drug for politicians. And the bizarre behaviour of dictators like Muammar Gaddafi cannot easily be explained in terms of pre-existing personality traits: it is much easier to interpret in terms of the unbalancing effects of power on the brain.

The tools of democracy - free elections, limited terms of office, an independent judiciary and a free press - were developed in part to combat the effects of excessive power on leaders. Even the Chinese change their leaders every 10 years. But it is not just political leaders who are affected - hundreds of millions of people have power over others through their jobs.

Nathanael Fast and colleagues at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business discovered that some bosses who have a lot of power over their underlings behave decently while others abuse their position by behaving aggressively. Why is this? Fast discovered that power makes bullies of people who feel inadequate in the role of boss. With power comes the need to perform under the close and critical scrutiny of underlings, peers and bosses. Such power energises and smartens some, but it stresses others who might have functioned well in a less powerful position. The Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe is a good example. He resigned in 2007 after just one year in office, with severe stress playing a major part.

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From issue 2872 of New Scientist magazine, page 28-29.
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Too Big An Appetite For Power Leading To Disastrous Judgements
Thu Jul 05 14:58:39 BST 2012 by Eric Kvaalen

If I had to choose an example, I would choose Saddam Hussein rather than Tony Blair.

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Too Big An Appetite For Power Leading To Disastrous Judgements
Thu Jul 12 10:42:28 BST 2012 by J

What's the difference ?

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Does the science of power make sense of Muammar Gaddaffi's behaviour? (Image: Steve Bent/Rex Features)

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[gobdoon]

, Obama says any one who tries his doughters , he is going to send the drones , the man is an idiot he must stop these remote controled aircrafts killing people willy nilly.