Bases of Social Power

Identifying sources of power. Explanation of Bases of Social Power of French and Raven.

Processes of power are pervasive, complex, and often disguised in our society. The Bases of Social Power of French and Raven is a theory that  identifies five (six) bases or sources of social (organizational) power:

1. Reward power. This form is based on the perceived ability to give positive consequences or remove negative ones.

2. Coercive power. This is the perceived ability to punish those who not conform with your ideas or demands.

3. Legitimate power (organizational authority). This form is based on the perception that someone has the right to prescribe behavior due to election or appointment to a position of responsibility. Also called Normative Power. Compare: Organization Chart.

4. Referent power. This is power through association with others who possess power.

5. Expert power. This type is based on having distinctive knowledge, expertness, ability or skills.

6. Similar to 5: Information power. This form is based on controlling the information needed by others in order to reach an important goal.

The Five Bases of Social Power theory starts from the assumption that power and influence involve relations between at least two agents. The theory argues that the reaction of the receiving agent is the more useful focus for explaining the phenomena of social influence and power.

French and Raven examined the effect of power derived from the various bases of attraction and resistance to the use of power. Attraction and resistance are the recipient's sentiment towards the agent that uses power. They conclude that the use of power from the various bases has different consequences.

For example, coercive power typically decreases attraction and causes high resistance. Whereas reward power increases attraction and creates minimal levels of resistance.

French and Raven also concluded that "the more legitimate the coercion [is perceived to be], the less it will produce resistance and decreased attention".

Bases of Social Power Forum

Ken Klosterman - USA

"Legitimate Power"

"While I appreciate and aknowledge that the definition of legitimate power, posed in this section, represents the current social paradigm, I believe that it presents a significant divergence from the original definition and underlying intent of French and Raven's (1959) research. In their definition they specifically stated that "we note that legitimate power is very similar to the notion of legitimacy of authority which has long been explored by sociologists, .... However, legitimate power is not always a r"

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Compare with the 5 Bases of Social Power: Hagberg Model of Personal Power  |  Charismatic Leadership  |  Servant-Leadership  |  Change Management Iceberg  |  Appreciative Inquiry  |  Positive Deviance  |  Change Phases  |  Force Field Analysis  |  Core Group Theory  |  Planned Behavior  |  Groupthink  |  EPIC ADVISERS  |  Leadership Styles  |  Managerial Grid  |  Situational Leadership  |  Level 5 Leadership  |  Centralization and Decentralization

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