POWER• The extent to which one person can
influence another to do something
OR
• The ability of one person to control some other person in order to do something
Power in small groups
• Is reflected in the ability to get other group members to
conform to our wishes
1. Power Bases
• The most common description of power bases is by French and Raven
(1959), in which power is divided
into five different categories
1. LEGITIMATE POWER
It is associated with having authority derived from status, a job, etc
I.e. A teacher, who besides being in charge of the classroom, is balanced in her/his appraisals, Then she or he exhibits legitimate power
2. REFERENT POWER
It is based on followers` identification and linking for the leader
I.e. A teacher who is admired by her/his students (´be like`) has referent power
3. EXPERT POWER
It is based on followers` perceptions of the leader `s competences.
I.e. A teacher who is well-knowledgeable about her/his subject has expert power
As the saying goes… Knowledge is POWER
4. REWARD POWER
It is derived from having the capacity to provide rewards to others
I.e. A teacher who gives extra points, desirable assignments and grades to students who work hard, shows reward power
5. COERCIVE POWER
It is derived from having the capacity to penalize or punishing others
I.e. A teacher, who wants to set an example in order to avoid having a similar behavior in the future and she or he takes disciplinary actions against a student as a punishment, uses coercive power
6. INFORMATIONAL POWER
It is derived from expressing one’s views in ways that are reasonable and compelling to others, which is considered effective communication
I.e. A teacher who explains concise and clearly her/his subject, for the students` sake, she or he has informational power
Much more important
• Your power base is the sum of resources you posses that you can use to exert control over your students
2. Power Processes• Are ongoing interaction among group
members
• Through interaction we put our resources to work for us
• Interaction itself can be an important source of power in the group
However, we should consider
• Assertiveness: Which refers to the numbers of attempts an individual makes to influence the behavior of others
• Control: Is the measure of effectiveness of these attempts and the number of times these attempts are successful
• In other words, the power held by a group member can be represented by a ratio of attempts to successful attempts
3. Power Outcomes
• Potential = Possibility
• Actual = Real
As we have seen, power may be potencial or actual
Summig up
• Power bases and power processes represent potential sources of power
• POWER OUTCOMES are the measure of actual power of a group member
Finally• Who wins the argument
• Who makes the final decisions
• Who achieves higher status within the group
Are all results of development and use of power
but
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