Power is a corruptor, it corrupts people without their knowledge.

According to Sturm and Antonakis (n.d.), “power is having the discretion and the means to asymmetrically enforce one’s will over others”. Moderator variables exist, which influence pro- and antisocial outcomes. A key in power is its assymetry. Having power needs subjects to exercise power on. Any power relation is therefore at least dyadic. Power relations can exist openly or in a concealed way. Hierarchies, such as in military or many corporations, indicate formal power. On the other hand, informal power does not lend itself to observation and analysis that easily. For example, opinion leaders exercise informal power and are not always easy to identify.

Subtle power comes in forms of behavioral patterns or social norms. For example, people are supposed to consume - I intentionally use a passive voice. The producers expect and need consumers. While this sounds very small scale, the true nature of this simple assumption reveals itself on a large scale. Complexity theory, I hear you knocking. Everybody consumes something and the constant reinforcement of a need to consume leads to an exertion of power over consumers. Media is a great example. It’s the soft power sifting through the delivery of social behavior - in media, this leads to a reinforcement of existing patterns, either through negative examples where consumers can distance themselves from or through positive examples where consumers can identify themselves with. As an example, while I write these lines, I sit in a plane and a guy next to me watches a movie - he’s simply consuming the video because it is according to his taste - but the taste has been shaped through constant enforcement in forms of advertisement, and highly intelligent marketing. In my opinion, it would be naive to assume that people just find their taste because of their own will. Is this steering of taste an example of power? Isn’t this plain opinion leadership on a large scale?

Power can be very down to earth as well. People usually cling to power. Power is also the right or the ability to do certain things which others can’t although the others would be able to do so, too. We don’t talk about sport, where some are simply better than others. But what distinguishes power from privilege?

Sturm, R. E. and Antonakis, J. (n.d.) ‘Interpersonal power: A review, critique, and research agenda’. Available at: https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_1F6C29A616C0.P001/REF.