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An event‐structure approach to social power and to the problem of power comparability
Author(s) -
Tannenbaum Arnold S.
Publication year - 1962
Publication title -
behavioral science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1099-1743
pISSN - 0005-7940
DOI - 10.1002/bs.3830070304
Subject(s) - comparability , power (physics) , event (particle physics) , psychology , computer science , social psychology , mathematics , physics , quantum mechanics , combinatorics
One of the more unwieldy concepts with which social scientists struggle is that of power. How can one compare the power of a policeman to direct traffic with the power of a professor to get his students to do a homework assignment, or with the power of a father to get his son to wash behind his ears? The persons are so different, the behaviors so diverse, that they seem to preclude comparison. Is there a “common denominator” for these dissimilar situations? Here one approach to this problem is presented, using the common denominator of motivation.