Chapter 5: The Punitive Power Holder: Social Judgeability Increases the Severity of Punishment

Although the ability to administer punishment to others is part of common definitions of power, the effects of hierarchical power on the severity of punishment considered to be fair has not been systematically investigated. Based on a review of the power literature, I propose that power holders frequently perceive more severe punishment as fairer than people with low power. Moreover, I propose that this increased punitiveness among power holders is attributable to the process of social judgeability: Power holders experience more entitlement to judge others and therefore have a stronger belief in the objective correctness of their stereotypic beliefs. As a consequence, they are more prone to attribute an offense to negative traits that people stereotypically associate with offenders (e.g., immorality). Social judgeability thus increases the severity of punishment by power holders because they are more inclined to attribute the offense to the offender’s bad character, making them less susceptible to extenuating circumstances or other situational attributions. Implications for the psychology of power and punishment are discussed.