Power Intoxicates, Triggers Hubris
In a study that can either be deemed horribly pertinent or totally superfluous in light of every other newspaper headline, two Stanford professors have demonstrated that the phrase "drunk on power" isn't just a metaphor: Anyone placed in a position of power, they say, will automatically overestimate their abilities and the control they have over events, and basically turn into deluded megalomaniacs.
In a series of experiments where participants were asked to write about experiences where they enjoyed control, or were assigned superior roles in a game, the taste of power was seen to consistently lead to an overinflated sense of influence and self-esteem.
"By producing an illusion of personal control," warn the researchers, "power may cause people to lose touch with reality in ways that lead to overconfident decision-making." Overconfident decision-making: the most diplomatic way to describe the genesis of every unfortunate event of this past year, from the implosion of capitalism to the scariest May-December "romance" of all time.
