Academic

?Feeling powerless impairs higher mental abilities?

By Ann Bartow

From Not Exactly Rocket Science:

Feeling powerless is no fun. A lack of control can make the difference between contented and unhappy employees. But new research shows that a lack of power doesn’t just make people feel disgruntled. It has a more fundamental effect on their mental skills.

In a series of experiments, Pamela Smith from Radboud University Nijmegen has shown that the powerless actually take a measurable hit to important mental abilities. Even if people are subconsciously primed with the concept of being powerless, they perform more poorly at tasks designed to assess their ability to plan, focus on goals and ignore distractions.

Read the rest here.

Full post as published by Feminist Law Professors on May 20, 2008 (boomark / email).