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Lonely at the Top

The Effect of Power on Information Flow in the Dyad

University of Texas at Austin

Toni Giuliano

University of Texas at Austin

Richard L. Archer

Southwest Texas State University

The effect of power- versus nonpower-oriented roles on the exchange of personal information was explored. It was predicted that the form of this exchange would be governed by the role context of the interaction rather than by obligations to reciprocate disclosure. To test this, subject pairs were assigned to a position power, information power, or no power condition in anticipation of a game matrix task. Subjects then chose disclosure topics for themselves and their partners and self-disclosed on these topics, in a pregame getting-acquainted session. Results indicated that high-power subjects offered and requested less intimate information than their low-power counterparts within the position power condition only. However, power-oriented roles did not impinge on actual self-disclosures. These findings point to the existence of role-governed strategies of information exchange, and suggest that reciprocity phenomena based on a principle of equal exchange may be limited to particular relationship contexts.

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