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Original Article

Powerful People Feel Less Fear of Negative Evaluation

The Mediating Role of Personal Control Belief

Published Online:April 28, 2017https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000299

Abstract

Abstract. To directly examine why an individual’s capacity to influence others by providing valued resources (i.e., power) could decrease the concerns about negative evaluation from others (i.e., the fear of negative evaluation, FNE) in daily life, two studies were conducted. Results found that perceived power (Study 1) was associated with lower FNE, and manipulating power levels (Study 2) caused less FNE. Furthermore, results indicate that personal control belief mediated this link. These findings provide empirical evidence of the underlying mechanism of the effect of power on reducing FNE. The current research contributes significantly because it sheds light on how power transferred from a person’s “external world” to their “internal world” (i.e., personal control belief) can influence their cognition and behavior.

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