November 22, 2009
UTNE READER

The Power of Kindness

(Page 3 of 3)

May-June 2008
by Dacher Keltner, from Greater Good 
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My own research has found that people with power tend to behave like patients who have damaged their brain’s orbitofrontal cortex (the region of the frontal lobe right above and behind the eye sockets), a condition that seems to cause overly impulsive and insensitive behavior. Thus the experience of power might be thought of as having someone open up your skull and take out that part of your brain so critical to empathy and socially appropriate behavior.

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This leaves us with a power paradox. Power is given to those individuals, groups, or nations who advance the interests of the greater good in socially intelligent fashion. Yet, having power renders many individuals as poorly attuned to others as your garden-variety frontal lobe patient. What people want from leaders—social intelligence—is what is damaged by the experience of power.

Social behaviors are dictated by social expectations. When we recognize this paradox and all the destructive behaviors that flow from it, we can appreciate the importance of promoting a more socially intelligent model of power. As a result, we’ll have much less tolerance for people who lead by deception, coercion, or undue force. We’ll also start to demand something more from our colleagues, our neighbors, and ourselves.

 

Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a coeditor of Greater Good, from which this piece is excerpted (Winter 2007–08). Subscriptions: $24/yr. (4 issues) from 2425 Atherton St., #6070, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720; www.greatergoodmag.org.

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