中国科学院行为科学重点实验室知识库

To directly examine why an individual's capacity to influence others by providing valued resources (i.e., power) could decrease the concerns about negative evaluation from others (i.e., the fear of negative evaluation, FNE) in daily life, two studies were conducted. Results found that perceived power (Study 1) was associated with lower FNE, and manipulating power levels (Study 2) caused less FNE. Furthermore, results indicate that personal control belief mediated this link. These findings provide empirical evidence of the underlying mechanism of the effect of power on reducing FNE. The current research contributes significantly because it sheds light on how power transferred from a person's "external world" to their "internal world" (i.e., personal control belief) can influence their cognition and behavior.