¿Cómo perciben a sus superiores aquellos subordinados que experimentan su propia posición como injusta? Efectos de la Legitimidad de falta de poder sobre la percepción social

Abstract

Powerful and subordinate positions have been shown to have biasing effects on individuals' attention and evaluations. In this study, the role of the lack of power (subordination to others) and the perception of (II)legitimacy of this position were explored. Participants were randomly assigned either to a legitimate or to an illegitimate subordinate conditions during a problem-solving task. Legitimate subordinates were told they did not have skills to be in a superior position. On the contrary, Illegitimate subordinates were told that their subordinate role was randomly assigned. The time spent by the two groups of participants to examine positive and negative traits, either stereotypic or inconsistent with the stereotype, about their hypothetical superiors was the main dependent variable. Results showed that illegitimate subordinates preferred negative inconsistent information about their superiors rather than negative stereotypic one. However, no differences in the attention paid to inconsistent traits relative to stereotypic ones were found for positive traits nor for legitimate subordinates. The implications of our manipulation for the motivations of the individuals and for the maintenance of social structure are discussed