Exerting Power and Influence

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Exerting Power and Influence

• A series by the
• Center for the Management of Information,
• University of Arizona

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Influence from the history books

• Adolph Hitler
• Jim Jones

• David Koresh

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Definitions

• Social influence one person's actions
• causing changes in another's thoughts and
  behaviors that would not have occurred in the
  absence of the actors behaviors, or
• maintaining the targets way of thinking and
  behaving in the face of influence attempts
• Power potential or capacity to influence

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Definitions

• Dominance
• communicative acts by which one actors assertion
  of influence and control is met with acquiescence
  from another
• Is overt behavioral
• Includes characteristics of
• Influence
• Focus poise
• Conversational control
• Panache (dramatism)
• Self-assurance

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Assumptions

• Social influence is motivated
• Social influence is strategic
• Influence partly due to compresence

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Bases of power

• Punishment
• Legitimate
• Reward
• Expertise
• Referent

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Example
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Principles of dominance

• Note that dominance is a continuum from dominant
  to submissive
• Many dominance indicators convey credibility
• Expertise
• Dynamism/extroversion
• Sociability
• The opposites of these principles connote
  powerlessness or submissiveness

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Principles of dominance

• Overt symbols of status and authority
• Status appearance indicators
• Uniforms
• Possession of valued commodities
• High-prestige dialect
• Formal language
• Powerful speech

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Principles of dominance

• Visible symbols
• Size
• Physical
• Posture
• Clothing
• Vocal features
• Deep pitch
• Louder amplitude
• Quantity of language/speech
• of words, verbs, sentences
• Duration of talk

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Principles of dominance

• Visible symbols
• Size
• Elevation
• Environmental location
• Proxemic seating arrangement
• Kinesic posture--standing
• Physical appearance--height

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Principles of dominance

• Visible symbols
• Size
• Elevation
• Intimidation
• Facial maturity vs neoteny
• Physical size
• Spatial intrusion
• Anger expressions
• Kinesic threat stare
• Loudness
• Silence

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Principles of dominance

• Visible symbols
• Size
• Elevation
• Intimidation
• Dynamism
• Facial animation
• More eye contact and longer gazes
• More immediacy
• Vocal variety
• Tempo
• Pitch
• Linguistic expressivity
• Activation imagery
• Expressivity index

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Principles of dominance

• Visible symbols
• Size
• Elevation
• Intimidation
• Dynamism
• Access
• Private space, better territories
• Better furnishings
• Freedom from others intrusions
• Taking up more space

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Principles of dominance

• Visible symbols
• Size
• Elevation
• Intimidation
• Dynamism
• Access

• Centrality
• Location
• Visual dominance ratio
• First-person pronouns

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Principles of dominance

• Visible symbols
• Size
• Elevation
• Intimidation
• Dynamism
• Access

• Centrality
• Precedence
• Entering spaces
• First to sit
• Initiating talk

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Principles of dominance

• Visible symbols
• Size
• Elevation
• Intimidation
• Dynamism
• Access

• Centrality
• Precedence
• Relaxation and poise
• Relaxed asymmetric posture
• Relaxed voice Sideways lean indirect body
• Open arms
• Fewer adaptors restless movement
• More eye contact
• More nods
• Informal speech

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Principles of dominance

• Visible symbols
• Size
• Elevation
• Intimidation
• Dynamism
• Access

• Centrality
• Precedence
• Relaxation and poise
• Prerogative
• Spatial deviations
• Nonreciprocal touch
• Chronemic deviations

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Principles of dominance

• Visible symbols
• Size
• Elevation
• Intimidation
• Dynamism
• Access

• Centrality
• Precedence
• Relaxation and poise
• Prerogative
• Unexpectedness
• Expectancy violations
• Dress
• Space

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Principles of dominance

• Visible symbols
• Size
• Elevation
• Intimidation
• Dynamism
• Access

• Centrality
• Precedence
• Relaxation and poise
• Prerogative
• Unexpectedness
• Interaction control

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Principles of dominance

• Expertise indicators
• steady and consistent eye contact
• smiling and facial pleasantness
• head nods
• expressive gestures
• absence of adaptor gestures
• direct body orientation
• vocal variety
• clear articulation
• long talk time
• fluent speaking
• General American Dialect

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Turning dominance on its head

• What would be indicators of powerlessness or
  submissiveness?
• Linguistic
• Kinesic
• Vocalic
• Are these universal?
• What would rob our interfaces of credibility?
• What features do we need/want in our AVATAR?