Organizational power predicts decision making quality

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the links between power and the quality of decision. Participants were 50 employees from an organizational company, consisting of two groups (High-Power, N=24; Low-Power, N=26) based on the hierarchical power position in the organization. To evaluate the quality of the decisions, all participants performed tasks involving choice among several alternatives in two separated moments of the same day: in the morning (at the beginning of the workday) and late afternoon (at the end of the workday). Additional subjective measures (fatigue, alertness, effort) and skin conductance were obtained. Results indicated that having high power in the organization was related to making better decisions, over and above the subjective levels of fatigue, alertness, effort, and of physiological arousal. No effects of time-of-day were found on the decision making. Consistent with experimental research, having power facilitated decision making performance in an organizational context.